Knights of the Old Republic: The Dark Lord
by Kianda Daemon
Summary: A brief retelling of the Jedi Civil War, beginning with Malachor V and ending with Malak's death. The entire story is told from Revan's POV, following the canon. Warning: Some creative freedom taken with battles and characters; nothing drastic
1. Chapter 1

_"Die Jedi dog!"_

It's been child's play thus far....

_Revan effortlessly lifted the lightsaber over his head, deflecting another blow from Mandalore._

Luring in my own men here, enticing them with darkside energies.

_He quickly jumped behind Mandalore, and took a swing for his head. Mandalore just barely ducked in time._

Taunting Mandalore into a duel, setting up the Mass Shadow Generator.

_The Mandalorian leader spun around, and swung at Revan again. He easily ducked from the blow, and forced him back with a surge of Force power._

Everything has been easy, and yet...I know it comes with a great sacrifice. The sacrifice of lives, possibly my own humanity. Is it worth it? Is it truly worth it?

_Mandalore screamed in rage as he ran towards Revan. _Foolish Mandalorian. Can't he see- _Mandalore lunged at Revan; he easily dodged his attack, then swung for his armored neck. His armor had been weakened from battle. It could do little to protect him now. _I've all ready won.

_The violet blade hesitated, then finally cut through armor, skin, bone and sinew. Mandalore's body stopped where it was, as if it were frozen in stone. The vibro sword fell out of his hand; his head rolled off of his body. Revan smiled to himself, then deactivated his lightsaber with a hiss. As the body tumbled to the ground, he bent down and picked up the helmeted head of Mandalore himself. He walked to the edge of the cliff, and looked down to see the battle raging on. The Mandalorians were slowly being backed into the valley, where Revan's faux trap awaited them; the real trap was much worse. _

_He called upon the power of the Force to amplify his voice, so all could hear him._

_"Mandalorians, citizens of the Republic! Cease fire, and lend me your ears!"_

_Just like that, the firing stopped. He was surprised that the Mandalorians were listening to him as well. Perhaps they respected him enough to hear the words that would next come from his mouth._

_"Mandalorians, you have been worthy opponents; I understand that to die in battle is one of the greatest honors a Mandalorian could achieve. I am here to tell you that your leader has reached that highest honor!"_

_He reached into the helmet with the Force, and plucked out the head of Mandalore. He didn't bother to look at it; he flung it over the edge of the cliff to the Mandalorians, as if it were a piece of meat he was giving to a pack of animals. Several gasps came from below, and he could hear mutterings as well. He smirked to himself, then continued._

_"Armies of the Republic! These barbarians have caused unparalleled damage to our society! Are you going to stand for this, especially now that we have them cornered? Now that we can claim our revenge, now that we can make them answer for these crimes? This war was begun by blood,"_

And now, to test the loyalty of my fellow Jedi. Now to test the influence I have on them.

_"So let it be undone by blood! Soldiers, my fellow Jedi, end them!"_

_A loud cry echoed throughout the mountains; the snapping of ignited lightsabers resounded, and the blaster fire continued._

It is assured, then...

_He then took out his comlink, and contacted his shuttle to come pick him up from his location. He needed to be far away from his faux trap, and he would have to begin evacuations soon. The Mass Shadow Generator had a timed detonation, but it was better to keep as many of his men alive as possible. He would need them for his upcoming war._

The Republic must be remade in fire; there can be no other way to save it from the real threat waiting to strike. I don't know how long before that happens, but the Republic must be ready. This is my sacrifice to the Republic; I sacrifice my humanity to save it. Forgive me, Masters, but you know very little of what is truly to come. You sensed the danger, but...

_His shuttle arrived. The ramp opened up, and Malak was waiting for him._

_"Hurry, Revan. We must execute our plan."_

_Revan nodded, and said, "Yes, of course."_

_He felt compelled to correct Malak, and say that it was his plan, but he decided to hold his tongue. There would be plenty of time for tongue lashings later. He leapt into the shuttle as it began to take off. He took out his comlink again, then contacted General Derred._

_"What's the situation, General Derred?"_

_"All is going according to plan, General. We have the Mandalorians backed into the mountain pass, and we are suffering minimum losses."_

_"Excellent. Are the battle droids functioning at full power?"_

_Derred looked down as if to study some data, then looked back up._

_"Yes sir, the battle droids are functioning at full capacity."_

_"Excellent. Order a retreat."_

_Derred gasped, and nearly choked upon his own breath. Even Malak frowned at Revan for a moment. He glared at Malak, then returned his gaze to Derred._

_"But-but sir. We have them on the run. Should we not finish them while we can?"_

_"Not to worry, General. It is only a false retreat. I have a little something planned for the Mandalorians in the mountain pass. You have five minutes to get our men away from that mountain pass, but leave the droids. We don't want the Mandalorians to follow, otherwise the plan will not work."_

_"Of course, sir. It shall be done."_

_Revan cut the link, then walked up to the cockpit and sat down in the passenger seat. He looked into the skies above, and saw explosions in the distance; the Mandalorian fleet was slowly being destroyed. They didn't stand a chance; their forces were split, as was Revan's, but he had the advantage of both strategy and morale. No doubt word of Mandalore's death was quickly spreading; the Mandalorians would soon lose the will to fight._

_Two minutes had passed; it was time to execute his faux trap. He took out a detonator, waited another minute, then pressed the button. Just like that, he felt the lives of hundreds of Mandalorians being blown out as if they were mere candles._

_"Brilliant strategy, master; perfectly executed."_

_Revan held back a sigh, then thought to himself _You little kiss up. Of all the Jedi, you had to be the one to have the most potential to be my apprentice.

_He sighed and took out his comlink, then contacted Saul Karath._

_"Admiral, order our bombers to take out the Mandalorians' engines. We're going to leave them stranded here, understand?"_

_"Of course, sir. It shall be done at once."_

_Revan quickly cut the link, then he put the comlink away again. _

_Once the shuttle landed on Revan's capital ship, _The Crying Blade, _Revan quickly turned to Malak._

_"We're short on time, my apprentice. Get to the bridge and send out a message to prepare to jump to hyper space once all men are present and accounted for."_

_"Yes, of course." Malak said with a bow. "And what of you?"_

_"If you need me, I'll be in my quarters. I need to think further ahead. Some of this plan was made by thinking on my feet; I need to plan further ahead for the upcoming war. Every step must be carefully meditated; there can be no room for error."_

_Revan briskly walked past Malak and out of the hangar bay. His quarters were not too far away from the hangar; in fact, they were quite close to the soldier's quarters. He found it was best to be close to one's soldiers as much as possible in order to ensure loyalty. It had been working so far. _

_His quarters were quite different from those of the others. His room was lighted red, with only two pieces of furniture: his bed and a desk. On the far side of the room was a steel container, and in the very middle of the room was a shallow meditating pit. He took a seat in the middle of the pit, and took out his comlink. He set it down in front of him, then contacted Jedi General Cilia. _

_General Cilia bowed in respect before the hologram of Revan. "Greetings, sir. What is it that you need?"_

_"Is the Mass Shadow Generator set up?"_

_"Yes sir, the preparations are made, and the Mandalorians don't suspect a thing."_

_"Excellent. Set the Mass Shadow Generator to go off in fifteen minutes, then quickly get out of there. We'll be leaving the Mandalorians to die soon enough."_

_He did not say goodbye this time; he just closed the link down, and gave himself to the ebb and flow of his thoughts._

You sensed the danger, but you did not act. Jedi...so passive, so narrow minded. Always waiting, never taking action. Honestly, if one stands still, they will die. That's why I must always plan ahead, always be moving forward. Otherwise, what am I left with? Nothing but regrets.

_He stopped there for a moment, then continued._

Do I even regret anything anymore? No...no, I don't think I do. My only regret is...Bastila. I couldn't convince her to join us. I need her with us, for many reasons. She could have been a great help to us in this war, and the war to come. But that's not all...no, no there is no room for love, not on my path.

_He stopped again._

She has to die now, doesn't she? She'll turn out to be a bigger threat than she is right now. There's something lying dormant inside of her...a rare gift. She's very talented with the Force, and almost as persuasive as I am. Could she be gifted with...Battle Meditation? Yes, yes it's there, all right. Even now, when she is millions of light years away I can feel it manifesting itself, slowly but surely. It is like a ripple, slowly growing in a pond. It could be used against me...she must die, but I can't rush into it.

_His voice was growing icy inside his own mind._

No...no, her death must be planned out. Or can she be turned? Doubtful; she is very stubborn. If she would not join me in this war, she won't join me now....especially not now. Her death is regrettable, but there is no other way. If she will not be turned, then she will be destroyed.

_A blurry vision passed before his eyes...Bastila confronting him on a ship, two Jedi dead at his feet, along with one Republic officer. A confrontation was imminent, but when it would take place was an entirely different matter._

_"All crew members, prepare to jump to hyperspace. I repeat, prepare to jump to hyperspace."_

That's the ten minute mark, just as I planned. It's time to leave this place behind.

_He got out of his meditation pit, but just as he was about to leave his quarters, the entire ship shook. He momentarily lost his balance, then quickly regained it. His comlink went off, then he quickly pulled it out and heard Saul Karath's frantic voice._

_"Sir, something's wrong! We're being pulled towards Malachor V by some sort of vortex!"_

Crap...the Mass Shadow Generator has had a premature detonation. I have to escape with as much of my fleet as I can. Ugh...how did I not see this coming?

_"Quickly, order a jump to hyperspace to all ships! Those who do not make it are left behind; survival first, do you hear me!?"_

_"Yes sir, understood sir."_

_The link was broken, then Revan let out a broken sigh._

_"Not my most composed moment...but no matter. It's time to leave this life, this place, behind..."_

_He walked out of his quarters, and made his way to the bridge. They had managed to get away from the vortex. When Revan asked how many other ships had made it, only one third of the fleet was left behind._

Excellent...I'm rather surprised. I was expecting heavier losses.

_"Revan," Karath's voice called from behind him. "What is our destination?"_

Yes...what will our destination be? I need a location where we can gather when this is all over...once I have discovered the location of the Star Forge. Up until now, everything has been kept a secret from my men...perhaps I should let Saul Karath in on this so we can begin planning. Yes, that might be the best option.

_"Revan?" Malak asked again._

_"Hm? Sorry, I was out of it for a moment...what were we- oh, yes. Our location. For now, let's put some distance between us and Malachor V. Once we are at a safe distance..." He glanced at Malak, then back at Karath. "There is something the three of us need to speak of, in private."_

_"Of course, sir. As you wish."_

_Child's play... _Revan thought as he watched masses of ships floating out of the Star Forge from above in the observation deck. _That's what I called it at the time. It _was _nothing more than a game at the time, with nothing at stake. It was a game I was sure I could win. _Revan clenched his gloved fists. _Now it's a game of chess, and victory is assured. The Republic is still recovering, and it's the perfect time for rebirth, isn't it? Yes, it is; they don't suspect a thing. I'm sure rumors have been circulating about us by now; nothing more than whispers in the wind. For all they know, we are dead. _He unclenched his fists, and smirked from behind his mask. _No, only part of me is dead. The humane part of me...no, all that's left is what needs to be done. And I'll do it, because nobody else can; certainly not Malak. I never did tell him my true intentions, did I? No, I never told anyone. That's the way it has to be in the end, doesn't it?_

He heard a small explosion behind him, and turned to see Malak waiting for Revan to speak up.

_Malak...you've lost much, haven't you? You lack a conscience now, as well as your lower jaw. You shouldn't have tried to kill me before, my apprentice. You weren't ready, and I don't think you ever will be. And now...heh, now you're almost a cyborg with that large metal collar that now serves as your irritating mouth._

"Well?" Malak began, his tone annoyed; his voice was barely human now. There was only the smallest echo of his human voice hidden behind layers of cybernetic tones. "Am I ready to progress to living subjects?"

Revan paused for a moment, then turned around, his hands folded behind his back. "You've done well thus far, my apprentice." He began as he walked down the ramp to meet his apprentice. "You have no problems with summoning your hatred and anger to create lightning. However," He paused for a moment as he stopped two feet away from his apprentice- the man was a giant compared to Revan; he was physically stronger than he was, and much taller. However, that all amounted to nothing in the end. "You need to let the Dark side flow through you. While your basic emotions help you summon the powers of the Dark side, they don't let it flow through you. You know how to summon your emotions, but you must also learn how to channel them correctly. If you don't control them, your powers will be unstable. When you control them," He held out his hand, fixing his eyes upon a Rakatan prisoner. Purple lightning flew from his fingertips; the prisoner cried out in pain, and within a few seconds, he was dead.

Malak merely nodded, then waited for Revan to continue.

"When you control them, killing becomes much easier. Emotions are powerful, my apprentice. Not only because of the effect they have on us, but because they can also affect others and your environment. When you learn how to properly channel your hatred, you will find that you can do anything to anyone. Do you understand?"

Malak bowed in respect, then said, "What must I do, master?"

"Meditation, my old friend. Meditation and patience. Those two things have gotten me this far. Learn well from me, my apprentice, and you shall one day best me, as you must."

_Too bad it will never happen. You are impatient and stubborn, Malak. You don't understand the art of subtlety; if it were up to you, we would destroy the Republic and replace it with our Sith Empire. No, no that is not an option. We must only severely cripple the Republic so that we may rebuild it so it will be ready for what is to come. Because of your lack of patience and subtlety, you will never be better than me._

Malak nodded then turned to the other Rakatan prisoner. He held out his hand, and purple lightning flew from his finger tips. The Rakatan cried out in pain, and slumped to his knees. His breathing was shallow, and fast; he wasn't dead. Revan frowned, then walked over to the Rakatan. He knelt in front of him, looked him over once, then got up and nodded at Malak.

"Well done. You didn't kill him, but he is very near death."

Revan unclipped his lightsaber from his belt, and ignited it; a three foot blood red blade extended from the hilt, glowing furiously. With one swift swing, he decapitated the Rakatan prisoner; he felt no remorse.

"That's good enough for now, I suppose." He deactivated his lightsaber, then took out his comlink. "General, is everything ready?"

"Yes sir, our fleet is ready."

"And Foerost, do they suspect anything?"

"No, our spies reported in yesterday, and ensured us that they suspect nothing. The planet will be ours in an hour if everything proceeds as you planned."

"Perfect. And what of our spies on Courascant? Are they prepared to reroute our transmission upon request?"

"Yes, my lord."

"Perfect. It's time to let slip the hounds of war. I'll meet you in the hangar, General."

"As you wish, my lord."

Revan deactivated his comlink, then turned to Malak.

"It's time, my old friend."

If Malak had a mouth, he would have smiled; the spark in his eyes would have to suffice.

"_Perfect_."


	2. Chapter 2

_Foerost...I know very little about the planet itself._ Revan thought as he sat in his chair; it was placed in the main deck, about five feet away from the front view port. It was styled like a throne; it fit his status as the Dark Lord of the Sith. _However, the terrain doesn't matter. What matters is the shipyards. I want them captured, not destroyed. They will play a key part in the battles to come; not to mention it will deal a great crippling first blow to the Republic. I'll let Malak have his blood lust on the surface; I'll lead the attack on the ship yards. If it were up to him, he'd destroy them. I can't allow that to happen._

It didn't matter, though. Malak knew what his role was in this battle; distract the Republic forces with a land attack, while Revan went for the real prize: the shipyards. From the shipyards, he would infiltrate their communications, and send out a message declaring war upon the Republic. While it was dangerous for the King to move in Chess...

_If the King does not lead, how can he expect others to follow?_

There were two minutes left until they would exit from hyperspace. Malak's small vanguard of ships had all ready gone a head to begin the land stage of the battle. With their forces distracted, it would be child's play to capture the shipyards. Revan rose from his chair, and walked closer to the view port. He folded his arms across his chest, and took a deep breath as the ships began to slow down as they exited from the hyperspace route.

They came into view of the planet quickly. It was just as Revan expected: several dozens of ships docked at the ship yard, as well as fighters and bombers. However, they were clearly not battle ready at the moment. It was all most too easy.

"My lord," came a voice from behind him. "What are your orders?"

"Engage the enemy," Revan said in a monotone voice. "But do not wipe them out. Cripple the ships that attack, but leave the dormant ones completely intact. This will be a deadly first blow to the Republic."

"As you wish, my lord."

Revan merely smirked from behind his mask.

_This is going to be all too easy...once what little resistance there is has been wiped out, I'll send a boarding party into the shipyards to take prisoners; those who refuse to cooperate will be killed. After that, I will fly down to the surface and help capture the communications tower, then I'll transmit my message to Corascaunt._

As expected, there was little resistance in the space battle. What little defenses they had were quickly crippled, and the boarding party was sent out to secure the shipyards. Just as Revan was about to contact Malak, his comlink went off. When he saw the caller's image, he couldn't help but chuckle a little bit.

"What is it, Malak?"

"Master, a small Republic vanguard is defending the communications tower. I have only a handful of soldiers with me at the moment, and our Dark Jedi are defending the structures we have all ready captured. What are your orders, my lord?"

_You idiot...you should have expected heavy resistance at the communications tower. It's all ways the one building that is heavily guarded._

"Await my arrival. I'll lead you and your men into the fray."

"Yes, my lord."

_Idiot._

Revan landed at Malak's coordinates within a matter of ten minutes. He calmly walked out of the shuttle, and Malak was kneeling at the foot of the ramp.

"Rise, my friend. What is the situation."

Malak steadily rose, then said, "They have snipers positioned on the roof, and according to our stealth remotes placed inside the structure, the inside is heavily guarded, and apparently there is a Jedi there."

"A Jedi?" Revan asked, shock quite clear in his voice. "How is that possible? I did not sense a Jedi. No matter...why would a Jedi be here in the first place?"

"I'm not sure, my lord. But it is irrelevant; I am sure he will be killed with ease. The problem is getting inside without being shot down by the snipers."

_True...perhaps you're not quite as foolish as I had first concluded. _Revan thought as he walked past his soldiers, disregarding their salutes. His gaze was fixed on the tower, and the two snipers guarding it. _With the Force, I might be able to distract them long enough for our soldiers to take up positions to shoot them down. Yes, that's probably the best choice. But from his distance, it will take a great amount of concentration to keep them fooled. It's the only option as far as I can see, however. The only other option would be to increase my speed through the Force, but that can be quite exhausting, even for one such as myself. Confusion it is, then._

He turned to the soldiers, and said, "On my command, shoot them down."

The soldiers nodded without question, and saluted.

Revan nodded in approval, then he turned back to the tower. He held out his hand and reached out with the Force, focusing on the two snipers. He dived into their minds, allowing his conscious to mingle with theirs. Once his superior mind had a good grip on theirs, he waved his free hand to signal the soldiers.

Blaster fire. Candles were blown out.

Revan took a deep breath as he felt them leave the world. He smiled to himself, the nodded at Malak, signaling for him to follow his lead.

"Soldiers, place a detonator on the door. On my signal, we break in and rush the tower. We kill anyone who gets in our way."

A trooper in red armor nodded, then signaled for his men to follow him towards the door. He took out a large detonator, and placed it on the door. After a few minutes of fixing the wiring, he backed up and gave Revan the thumbs up. Revan nodded in acknowledgement, and walked towards the tower; he unclipped his lightsaber, and Malak did the same. They both ignited their weapons, and Revan gave the trooper the thumbs up.

The door was destroyed as if it were cardboard.

Revan was the first to rush in. A Republic soldier saw his lightsaber, then cried out, "It's a Sith!" Those were the last words he spoke. There was a flurry of blaster fire, each bolt bouncing off Revan's blade. "Malak!"

The Dark Lord's apprentice leapt into the tower, and landed in front of a soldier, slicing down the middle of his body; another flame extinguished. It was exactly the distraction Revan needed. He deflected another bolt into a Republic soldier, and sliced through another one that came rushing at him with a vibroblade. _Where is that Jedi?_

A flurry of blaster fire came from behind Revan. Within minutes, all the soldiers in the communications tower were dead. Revan gave the order for his soldiers to stand down, and for Malak to deactivate his searing blade. As expected, they all obeyed. _That Jedi is in here somewhere...I can sense him now. His presence was so insignificant before, but now it's ringing loud and clear._

"Come out, Jedi!" Revan called out, holding his lightsaber casually at his side. "I promise, yours will not be as gruesome as their fate if you reveal yourself!"

"As if I were to believe that..."

Revan looked to his right, and out of the shadows emerged a young male Cathar. _A Cathar? Impossible- no, not impossible. More like improbable. All Republic reports lead us to believe that the Cathars were dead after the Mandalorian attack. Well, I suppose I should know better than to trust Republic media._

"I know who _you _are, _Revan._" The Cathar hissed. "You rescued me and my cousin from slavery on Taris."

Revan frowned from behind his mask. "But how could you possibly recognize me now?"

"Your presence...your aura." He replied. "So full of energy...just like you, full of charisma. But now...it has an unmistakable taint; a taint of darkness. You were once my hero...but now you disgust me." He spit on the ground to emphasize his point.

Revan completely ignored the insult. "First, I must correct you; my name is _Darth _Revan now, Dark Lord of the Sith. Second of all," He began to approach the boy. Now that he got a closer look at him, he was roughly in his early teens. "There is very little you understand!" He spun in a complete 360, then swung at his neck. To his surprise, his blood red blade clashed against a vibrant yellow one.

"Ah, so you have had some training, then. It won't be enough to stop me!"

He disconnected his blade from the Cathar's with a slight twirl of the hilt, then he made a small cut on the youth's leg. The boy cried in pain, and Revan quickly backhanded him, sending him flying to the other side of the room with the Force. The boy groaned in pain, struggling to stand. He finally mustered the will to rise, but he was all ready weakened.

_Pathetic; this is a waste of my valuable time._

"Since you're so eager to die..." Revan held out his hand, and with a mere gesture, crushed the boy's windpipe. The young man's body collapsed, completely lifeless. Revan deactivated his lightsaber, calmly clipping it on to his belt. He looked to his soldiers, then said, "Get the communications uplink running. Malak, contact the General, and have the uplink to the Grand Jedi Temple on Corascaunt ready. It's time to speak the words that will start a war."

_It has been two years since Revan disappeared. _Bastila thought to herself as she sat in the Jedi Archives of the Grand Jedi Temple. _I can't help but wonder what has happened to him? Is he in a self imposed exile? No, I don't think so. I know him better than that. If anything he'd come back to enjoy his hero's welcome. How unbecoming of a Jedi Knight..._

She huffed in frustration and pushed out her chair, and calmly stood up. She took a moment to straighten up her robe and tunic, then she proceeded to walk out of the archives. When Revan disappeared, so did most of the Republic Grand fleet, along with most of the Jedi that followed Revan into war. Although she hated to think it, it was possible that Revan and Malak had turned to the darkside. She shuddered at the thought, but it was very possible. The foresight of the Jedi Masters had been clouded of late, which meant that the Darkside was growing stronger. Even she could sense the dark tremors in the force, and they were eerily familiar. It was too much like Revan...she hated the feeling, but she had to push it back to the back of her mind. It was best to assume Revan dead. That thought, however, almost brought a tear to her eye.

It was no secret that she cared much for Revan. The two were on a fairly good basis before he left for war. In fact, she was one of the first Revan had tried to recruit. As much as she secretly wanted to fight side by side with him, she couldn't defy the Jedi Council. She would never dream of it.

She had been lost in her own thoughts, that she didn't even realize where she was going. When she finally came to, she noticed she was in a room with several hologram projectors. Each projector had the image of a Jedi Master, each reciting the Jedi Code. She smiled a little bit, then started to recite along with them as she closed her eyes.

_"There is no emotion, there is peace._

_There is no ignorance, there is knowledge._

_There is no passion, there is serenity._

_There is no death, there is-"_

She stopped reciting the Code when she heard the unmistakable voice of Revan. She opened her eyes, and saw several images of the same hooded and masked figure. _No...it can't be..._

_"Jedi Knights, citizens of the Republic, lend me your ears!" _Revan exclaimed. _"I have returned from the far reaches of space, bearing news that will shock each and every one of you. I have returned to you, no longer as the man who saved your precious Republic. Nay! I am now Lord Revan, the Dark Lord of the Sith! And this," _Revan motioned for Malak to step into view of the camera. Malak proudly took his place beside Revan, his arms folded across his chest. He glared at the camera, as if to kill anyone who was watching the transmission. _"This is my apprentice, Lord Malak. We have discovered true power in the lost regions of space. Power enough to crush those who oppose us, and remake the galaxy in any way we see fit. This message is being transmitted from Foerost; I have captured the shipyard here, and the planet is now under the control of the Sith Empire! This will be many of the first planets to fall. They were ill prepared for us, so their defeat was quick and painless._

_"However, if you dare to oppose us, your deaths will not be so quick. I extend an opportunity to any and all Jedi who know of us: Join the ranks of the Sith. Become an apprentice to my Empire, and you shall have power beyond your wildest dreams. Refuse, and your deaths will be slow and painful. I extend the same offering to the citizens of the Republic. Join us, and your lives will be spared. Fight us, and die. Regardless of your choice, the Republic _must _fall. Your precious Republic will burn in flames. And as for the Jedi..._

_"The Jedi will be obliterated, and replaced with my kind. You are incapable of defending the galaxy any longer; you have out lived your usefulness. Because of you, the Republic was almost destroyed by the Mandalorians. If not for me, the Jedi would be dead. You have no idea how many losses we suffered...but no longer. I am here to ensure that will never happen again. This is war, my friends. Prepare to be reborn in fire."_

The transmission was cut, and Revan relaxed a little bit. _Perfect...the war has begun. Soon, I can begin rebuilding the Republic the way I see fit. They will be prepared for when the True Sith strike...this I swear._


	3. Chapter 3

_Roche...subjugated. Axxila, subjugated. Allanteen, subjugated. Yag'Dhul, subjugated. Telos IV...decimated!? _Revan dropped the datapad on the floor of the Star Forge's observation deck. _I didn't make that order...I told Malak to have Admiral Karath prove his loyalty by capturing a planet, not dooming it!_

He summoned the datapad back to his hand, and looked at the details. Malak ordered Saul Karath to bombard Telos IV, and make sure none were left alive. According to the report, thousands of Republic citizens were killed, several were missing. No doubt the ones who were missing were soldiers. Revan didn't care about that; what he cared about was the fact that Malak undermined his authority. Karath was to prove his loyalty, not destroy a planet.

_Malak...I won't stand for this. You may live, but you've made a grave error. Now the Republic will try twice as hard to stop us. You've only made things harder for us. Up until now, the Jedi Council has taken a wait and see approach. No doubt that this attack on Telos will provoke them into taking action. This is--_

Revan stopped, and pondered the situation for a moment. Perhaps this was a good thing. The more Jedi there were on the battlefield, the more Jedi would die or join them. However, that made little difference for Malak. Revan pulled down his hood, and removed his Mandalorian mask. He knew what he looked like...his appearance was twisted by the darkside. His skin, formerly tan, had turned a dark gray, with black shadows underneath his eyes, which were now a pale yellow. His hair, which gradually spiked in the front, was now black with gray streaks. Looking at him was like staring into the face of Darkness-- but also like looking into the heart of the Force.

"Malak...if you think that losing your lower jaw is your worst punishment so far," Revan said to himself. "You are sorely mistaken." He took out his comlink, and contacted Malak. "My apprentice, meet me in the observation deck immediately. No questions asked." He closed the link without saying farewell.

He put his comlink away, then folded his arms across his chest. There were a number of ways he could punish Malak. Loss of bodily function, electrocuting him until he passed out, even temporarily disabling the built in system that helped him breath. He could also lift him into the air with the Force and thrash him against the ground and walls over and over again until he begged for mercy. The possibilities were endless.

_Perhaps I could create a whirlwind, and turn it into an electrical storm that will shock Malak until he submits. I've never tried that before...that could be fun. Or perhaps I could constrict his lungs; he doesn't exactly have a neck anymore. Or, I could-_

Before he could complete his thought, he heard Malak walk in. He waited a minute until he heard Malak's footsteps approach the ramp to the top platform. Once he was close enough, Revan spun around and placed Malak in a stasis field. His apprentice's eyes instantly widened with shock, and perhaps fear. He tried to struggle against Revan's stasis field, but he couldn't break free.

"M-Master...wh-what is the meaning of th-this?"

He was struggling just to get the words out. Revan could only smile in amusement.

"I'm not going to play games with you, Malak. Did you or did you not order Admiral Karath to bombard Telos?"

"I-I did, but-"

"No buts!" Revan cried. He flung out his hands, and purple lightning flew from his fingertips. Malak cried out in pain, and Revan removed the stasis field to allow Malak to fall over in pain. Malak slumped to his knees, his artificial breathing hastening.

"M-Master, allow me to explain. I-"

"No explanation is necessary, Malak. You allowed your blood lust to get the best of you. Do you have any idea what this means? The Republic will now fight twice as hard, and now the Jedi will truly get involved. This will cause more deaths than is necessary!"

Malak looked up with nothing but hatred in his eyes. "You are a fool, Revan. You care too much for the lives of others. You are no Sith! You are unworthy! You should be-"

"You insolent fool!" Revan summoned a whirlwind of Force Power around Malak, tossing him about in midair. He then flung his hands above his head, and summoned a Force Storm. The lightning mingled with the whirlwind, shocking Malak as he was thrown about. "You know nothing! You understand nothing! If everyone is dead, who will there be to rule over? The more people there are, the more likely we are to gain more followers. You understand nothing of subtlety, Malak. If it were up to you, we would assault the galaxy with our entire fleet!"

Revan dismissed the electric whirlwind, then grasped Malak with the Force. He slammed him into the ground, and held him there. He would wait for Malak to beg for mercy; for now, he would only enjoy Malak's pain.

"You have no faith in my tactics, Malak, so therefore, no explanation is possible for you. You will learn, however. I promise you that; you will learn. And if not by my hand, then by the hand of the Force."

"What do you expect me to do, _master_?" Malak hissed in response. "Beg for mercy?"

"That's exactly what I expect you to do. You will not die this day, Malak. It is not your time; plus, you are the only one who is worthy of being my apprentice. So, unfortunately, I need to keep you alive."

Malak growled in anger, and struggled against Revan's hold; it did him no good. "Mercy is for the weak."

"And power is for the strong, which you are not. Your mental strength is lacking, Malak. You don't think before you act, which is why you are weak. You must learn to strengthen your mind. Your final punishment will come in a moment, but first I must ask you this: You were going to lead the destruction of Rodia, correct?"

"Yes, I was." Malak said angrily.

"Not anymore. You don't know when it is appropriate to destroy. Do you even know why we are attacking Rodia?"

Malak said nothing. It was either pride or ignorance that held his tongue.

"We are attacking because it is the main source of Republic scouts and explorers. Not to mention they are still on the fence; in other words, there's still a chance they might join the Republic. We must take away that option as quickly as possible. I will lead the assault instead. As for you...you'll stay here and work on strengthening your mind."

Malak finally sighed and relaxed a little bit. He knew there was no arguing with Revan at this point. "What must I do...my master?"

"Cower in fear."

Revan released his hold upon Malak, but he assaulted his mind with nightmares. Malak screamed in fear, his fingers digging into his bald skull. He rose, but only got as far as getting on his knees. "Make it stop, master! Make it stop!"

"No." Revan said plainly. He walked back up to the main platform, and picked up his helmet. He slid it back on his head, and pulled up his hood. "You must stop the nightmares with the power of your own mind. Your skills with lightsaber combat are great, but your mental prowess needs improvement. You think with your muscles, and that is a flaw. You must learn to use your mind in order to overcome obstacles as well. This will help you..." Revan smirked from behind his mask. "Maybe."

He laughed and walked down the ramp, and stopped next to Malak, who was still cowering. Malak looked up at Revan, with nothing but fear in his eyes.

"Master..." Malak pleaded. "Mercy...mercy, please..."

Revan could only laugh. "Mercy is for the weak."

He unclipped his lightsaber, and ignited the blood red blade. Red hot plasma met Malak's back. As Revan walked out, he laughed at Malak's pain. All Malak could do was scream.

-----------

Revan took a shuttle to board the ship _The Leviathan. _It was their gift to Saul Karath for proving his loyalty to the Sith Empire. Revan did not mind the fact that Saul Karath got this ship for destroying Telos. It showed two things about the man: The first, he was loyal. The second, he was willing to do whatever it takes. The bombing of Telos was hardly his success; it was more like Malak's failure. In any event, Saul Karath earned this ship.

When Revan walked into the main deck, Saul Karath turned around. As he was about to speak, his eyes suddenly were filled with surprise. He clearly wasn't expecting Revan to be there. Revan walked past him and smirked, then took a position at the head of the deck. Saul Karath stood a few feet behind him, and bowed in respect before speaking.

"Uh...my lord. It is a pleasure to see you, but may I ask where Malak is? I mean no disrespect, but I was under the impression that he was to lead this mission."

Revan nodded, but did not turn around to face him. "Originally, yes. However, I thought it more important that he train alone today." _Something like that, anyways. _"But it is not important. Are the preparations ready?"

"Yes, my lord." Saul Karath replied. Revan looked over his shoulder for a moment to get a good look at the Admiral. The years have not been kind to him; his cheeks had become slightly hollow, and he had a good amount of stubble that gave him a rough look. His eyes were gray; those obviously wouldn't have changed. His uniform had changed, obviously. Instead of wearing a red and yellow uniform like he did when he was with the Republic, he now wore a black and red Sith officer uniform, with a black and gray officer's cap. He certainly looked the part. "Uh..my lord?"

"Hm? Ah, yes. Are we ready to depart?" He looked out the window again.

"Of course, my lord. On your command."

"Let it be done, then."

It took only a minute to send the message to the rest of the fleet. Their fleet was considerably large; it was made up of ten battleships all together. There were five _Interdictor-_class Cruisers, including the Leviathan; in addition, they had three _Centurion_-class battlecruisers, and two _Derriphan_-class battleships. _Derriphan's _were fairly small, but they were slow and packed heavy firepower. They only carried about six fighters each, but it wouldn't matter. The point of this assault was to bombard Rodia into submission. Since Rodia was considered a neutral planet, attacking it would be fairly easy.

"Admiral Karath?" Revan asked suddenly. His sudden statement startled Karath a little bit, but he replied nonetheless.

"Yes, my lord?"

"I trust that none of our plans regarding this attack has been leaked out?"

"I assure you that it is impossible." Saul replied, his voice suddenly full of uncertainty.

"You have all ways been easy to read, Saul." Revan replied smugly. "What are you not telling me?"

"Well sir, even though our security mainframe is impossible to reach, there is all ways the smallest chance that information will be leaked. You of all people should know this."

Revan nodded, and folded his arms across his chest. "Yes, of course. You are right, obviously." _So why do I sense that something is wrong? Something definitely isn't right here..._ He refused to dismiss the feeling. He could sense something was wrong...something was waiting for them at Rodia.

When they exited hyperspace, they were in the following formation: _The Leviathan _was heading the fleet, with the other four _Interdictor_ cruisers following behind in a horizontal line. On the left and right flanks of the _Interdictor _line was either _Derriphan._ A _Centurion _covered either flank of _The Leviathan_, and the last _Centurion _was below the _Leviathan_. Revan had ordered this formation in order to protect _The Leviathan_, along with the other defensive ships. He had ordered this formation before they set out for Rodia, but now he was glad he ordered this formation. When they exited out of hyperspace, a Republic fleet of fifteen ships was blockading their path. There were about eight _Hammerhead_-class cruisers, and seven _Foray_-class blockade runners. _I knew something was wrong...but no, this can't be all. I sense something..._

"I had a feeling this would happen..." Revan muttered to himself.

"L-Lord Revan, I apologize. I truly did not see this-"

"Do not worry, Admiral Karath. Numbers in battle amount to nothing in the long run: It is strategy that wins the day. Are our fighter pilots ready for launch?"

Saul Karath looked to a deckhand who was working a terminal; the man nodded at Admiral Karath. "Yes, they are ready."

"Excellent. Order the fleet to spread out, but still maintain this formation. Order the _Interdictor _ships to release two squadrons of fighters each."

While his orders were carried out, Revan took a moment to observe the Republic fleet. They didn't seem to have any kind of formation. And if they did have a formation, it was a very poorly planned one. Then again, perhaps that was part of their strategy? No, that would be foolish. At any rate, Revan would see to it that they were quickly wiped out. _Still...I sense something. A presence I have not felt since-_

Before he could complete his thought, Saul Karath interrupted him. "Sir, we are ready to proceed. What are your orders?"

"Order the fighter squadrons to advance. Have the fleet advance with them in a wedge formation with the _Derriphans _above us. The Republic fleet seems to be unorganized, so it should be easy to divide their forces."

"At once, my lord."

As the fleet assumed its new formation, Revan couldn't help but notice something. _The Republic fleet isn't doing anything. Hm...it appears they are taking a wait and see approach. This should be interesting._

"All right." Revan said once the formation was complete. "Begin the attack."

Once the fleet began advancing, Revan saw the truth of the Republic fleet. Just as they began their advance, the fleet turned to meet them. It was a formation Revan had never seen before. The _Foray_ blockade runners were arranged in a circle, with the command decks facing them. Surrounding them were seven of the _Hammerhead _cruisers. In front of both circles was the eighth _Hammerhead _cruiser.

_Crap...they knew my strategy before I even made the command? Somehow they knew I would order my fleet to attack the _Forays _first, since they were the most susceptible to fighter attacks. With the _Forays _eliminated, I then would have ordered my fighters to swarm the _Hammerheads _as a distraction, so my _Derriphans _and _Centurions _could bombard them._

"Revan?" Karath asked. "Revan, what's wrong..."

Revan couldn't respond; he was in pure shock. _They...they put me in check mate...before I could even move. Maybe..maybe the King shouldn't be on the battlefield. Maybe..._

_No! No, this is where I belong. I will win this battle. A change of strategy is all that's needed. Hmmm...all right, let's try-_

"Sir, we have incoming fighters!" Cried a deckhand.

"What!?" Revan snapped. He returned his attention to the window, and saw that he was right. Several squads of Republic fighters were headed towards them. He pulled down his hood, then depressed a indentation on his helmet; he had a built in com system installed recently, so he wouldn't have to bark orders at deck hands. He muttered the fighter transmission code, then began relaying his orders. Before he did, however, he had Saul Karath pull up a topographic hologram of the battlefield. The hologram was projected on the window, so Revan wouldn't have to move.

_"Squadron A1, assault the fighters coming in at you from the front. A2 and A3, there's a squad coming up on A1's right. Move to intercept."_

_"Copy that, my lord."_

Revan waited a moment, then his eyes widened when he saw what had happened. Somehow, the squad that had been coming in on the right somehow completely bypassed A2 and A3-- no, not just bypassed, took out half of both the squads, and then utterly destroyed squad A1. After that, A2 and A3 disappeared from the projection.

_"B7, you have a squad coming up behind you. B5, move to cover their back flank."_

B5 came up behind the pursuing squad, which quickly split in half and executed a pincer move, taking out B5. Then, just like that, B7 was gone.

_No...no, how is this possible? How can they react to every situation perfectly? No man, Force Sensitive or not, has those kinds of reflexes or foresight. _

Reflexes weren't the only surprise. The fighters were acting in perfect synchronization; each maneuver was executed without flaw. So far, the Republic had only suffered a few losses in this battle-- Revan, on the other hand, had lost almost every fighter squadron he sent out there. He had only one choice...

_"All ships, release all of your fighters. _Centurion _class ships, _Mayhem _and _Reaper,_ engage the enemy cruisers. Have your fighters draw the enemy fire. _Derriphan_ class ships, _Violet Raven _and _Inferno_, hold your fighters; give the _Centurions _cover fire. Concentrate your fire power on the _Hammerheads. Interdictors _and _the Leviathan_, hold wedge formation. and provide cover fire for our fighters. Execute now!"_

They did as they were told, and the Republic fleet responded. Half of the _Hammerheads _and three _Forays _moved to engage Revan's portion of the fleet, and the other half of the _Hammerheads _and the last four _Forays _moved to engage the _Centurions _and the _Derriphans_. As Revan barked orders to his men, his mind was racing with what was happening.

_I'm being outsmarted...I'm going to lose this battle. Somebody on the Republic's side has bested me somehow...but how is this possible? Wait...that disturbance I felt earlier. It felt so familiar...it can't be...can it? Yes...it is. Bastila's Battle Meditation has finally manifested itself, and she's using it against me now! Dammit....dammit, why didn't I see this coming? I need to force a confrontation with her somehow...but not here. No, definitely not here. It's too late for that now. No..I need this confrontation to happen on my own terms. Now is not the time._

"My lord!" A deckhand cried out. "We've just lost the _Derriphans, _and the _Centurions _are at critical condition." The deckhand paused for a moment, then his tone turned from urgent to grim. "We've just lost the _Centurions._"

Revan looked at the tactical map, and swore under his breath. "And now the rest of the fleet is coming after us." Then, just like that, they stopped. "What the- Admiral, what's going on?" Demanded Revan.

Saul looked to one of the deckhands who muttered something to him, then he turned back to Revan. "It would appear the Republic is sending us a transmission on an open channel. Shall I patch them through?"

"Yes...I want to speak face to face with the one who "bested" me." Revan hissed angrily.

"As you wish sir." Saul gave the deck hand the signal, and the transmission appeared where the tactical hologram once was. In place of the hologram was the face of Bastila Shan. _Crap...she's as beautiful as I remember. Pale skin, brown hair, blue-gray eyes. Heh...maybe it's best that she didn't join me. The Dark side would have ruined all that beauty, and possibly that figure. I see she still wears that skin tight body suit of hers._

Revan pulled his hood back up, then he folded his arms across his chest. "Bastila Shan. It's been a long time, girl. I haven't seen you since I last stepped foot on Dantooine. I see the years have been very kind to you." He glanced at Saul, then motioned to signal that he was dismissed. Saul bowed in respect, then stood aside to let Revan cary on.

"Darth Revan, I wish I could say the same to you, but I have no idea what you look like. Quite frankly, I don't want to know. It's probably as pretty a site as your apprentice." Bastila replied calmly, yet venomously.

"Your tongue is as venomous as ever, I see." Revan snapped. "Now what do you want, Padawan?"

"I want you to surrender." She replied evenly. She showed very little emotion in her face. "You are beaten, Revan. You are a brilliant tactician, but clearly you are no match for my Battle Meditation. Turn yourself in, Revan. The Jedi Council will be merciful."

"And that's the problem: Mercy. It is their Jedi mercy that nearly caused the galaxy to burn in flames when the Mandalorians attacked. To surrender without the penalty of death would be a foolish and dishonorable move on my part. I will never surrender."

"Be rational, Revan!" Bastila replied, frustration evident in her voice. "You've all ready lost many lives in this battle alone. If you continue to fight, you'll lose many more. Think of your soldiers!"

Revan couldn't help but chuckle a little bit. "The lives of my soldiers mean very little to me. They can be easily replaced-- either by other sentient beings, or by battle droids."

"I see that you have fallen too far to be reasoned with, Darth Revan..." Bastila said, a tinge of regret lingering in her voice. Her expression saddened for a minute, then her face was full of determination. "Surrender now or I will order my ships to open fire, and decimate you and your fleet."

"I have a better idea, Bastila. If I die, my apprentice will only take my place, and most likely attack Rodia again, next time with a much larger fleet. Unlike my apprentice, I actually think before I act. So, Bastila, I give you this proposition: If you allow us to retreat, we will not attack Rodia. However, if you shoot us down before we can leave the system, Malak will come back and decimate this planet-- and any other planet, for that matter. The choice is yours, Bastila."

_And I know you'll make the Jedi decision- you'll let me go free. Your Jedi mercy is a flaw that will cost you your life next we meet._

The conflict was evident on Bastila's smooth features. After a few moments, she finally sighed and nodded. "Very well. Leave this planet, Revan, and never return. If you do, I won't be here, and you won't receive mercy."

"I just needed the okay to leave, thank you very much." Revan replied mockingly. "We'll meet again, Bastila. And when we do, you will die."

Revan ordered Saul to cut the transmission; Bastila's face disappeared in a matter of seconds. The deck fell completely silent...they awaited their leader's orders. Revan turned around to face them, and spoke smoothly and calmly. "Order a full retreat. Set a course for the Star Forge; I have a feeling that this war just got a little more..." He paused, and allowed himself a smirk. "Interesting."


	4. Chapter 4

_It's been almost two years since my first encounter with Bastila on the battlefield. _Revan thought to himself as he stood at the head of the command bridge of his _Centurion-_class battlecruiser. _I have a feeling that the next encounter will happen soon enough. And if everything goes as planned, it will happen today._

Since the Battle of Rodia, the Republic had launched two campaigns to capture Mon Gazza and Lannik. Both campaigns were successful, thanks to Bastila's Battle Meditation. However, while the Republic was trying to regain their balance, Revan had changed tactics: He allowed Malak to have his fun for a little while. He allowed Malak to lead raids on small Republic outposts in the Outer Rim, in order to hammer away at some of their defenses. Revan counted on one thing with this tactic: Malak's blood lust. He knew Malak would choose random bases with absolutely no pattern to them. That would make Malak's movements harder to follow, which meant the Republic would be wasting valuable energy trying to send supplies to planets that might be targeted. That's where he came in.

With the help of his assassination droid HK-47, he ambushed Republic supply ships and stole their cargo, further depriving the Republic of resources and adding to his own. He also sent HK-47 on political assassination missions; his main targets were key Republic figures who he saw as a threat to the war, as well as people who sought to somehow leech money out of the Sith Empire. Criminal organizations were very crafty, and even Revan was amazed at what they could do sometimes. But in the end, he could not allow their existence.

Eventually, Revan ordered Malak to cease the raids and regroup with him at the Star Forge. Once the two met up, they set out for the Outer Rim. The plan he told Malak was to destroy the Star Maps they had found so that no one else could find the Star Forge. In truth, this was not the actual plan. Revan's real plan was much more complicated.

Over the past two years, he had been planning out his next encounter with Bastila step by step. By the end of last year, he had his plan ready. The first step was the leaking of selective information to the Jedi. The information he leaked would allow the Jedi to stage a trap for himself and Malak. If his guess was correct, Bastila would lead the trap, and probably try to capture him from his own ship. Naturally, Revan would allow himself to fall into the trap. He had a feeling that the Republic would have a fleet waiting for them, so he brought a fleet of his own to look like he was going to attack a planet when he was suddenly intercepted by a small Republic fleet. Malak was under the impression that they were going to bombard the planets with the Star Maps, instead of being subtle about it; that was the only reason Malak didn't question why they brought a fleet of ships with them.

_Idiot..._

He knew his confrontation with Bastila would take place on the command deck, so that's where he would stay. He would eliminate her Jedi vanguard first, then he'd take her out. It was a shame she'd have to die. She would have made a much better Apprentice than Malak ever was.

_Speaking of Malak..._

After Bastila was finished, he'd have to do something about Malak. A face to face confrontation with his own apprentice would have to be subtly forced as well. He obviously angered Malak very much. All he had to do was continue to infuriate Malak with his own appreciation for the subtle. Also, he would have to make it appear that he was looking to replace Malak with a new apprentice. He all ready had a few candidates in mind. However, one of them stuck out the most: a Sith named Darth Voren. He showed much potential, and he was loyal to Revan. Even though it was the tradition for Sith to betray each other, that would not do for Revan. If anything, he needed a loyal apprentice if he wanted his plans for the Republic to succeed. However, if Malak was successfully disposed of, he could probably share his secrets with Voren, and he would most likely follow in Revan's footsteps, even if he did betray him. Voren would probably be easier to influence than Malak, who was extremely stubborn and headstrong.

However, where Malak was merely ambitious, Voren was obsessed with rank. Voren was more than willing to eliminate one of his superiors to gain a rank. However, the difference between Voren and Malak was that Voren was willing to wait until he was sure he was ready. Malak, on the other hand, would never be ready, no matter what he thought. In any event, after this issue with Bastila was finished, he would take care of Malak.

_No...perhaps Bastila could be turned. She doesn't necessarily need to die. She would make a better apprentice than either Voren or Malak. Her Battle Meditation would definitely be a great boon to us. Yes...I'll take her prisoner, and keep her held on Lehon, where I will secretly train her in the ways of the Sith. Once she is ready, I'll have her destroy Malak to prove her worth. Yes, it's perfect. I will have both the Republic and Sith Empire think her dead, then make it appear that I brought her back. Yes...that will ensure total loyalty when I rebuild the Republic. After all, the galaxy loves miracle workers. That's exactly the reason so many followed me in the Mandalorian Wars. I was their savior, wasn't I? Yes...I saved the galaxy once, and I'll save it again. But it will be many years before they understand. Perhaps they'll never understand. In any event, I'll do what must be done to ensure the survival of the galaxy. After all, in order to defeat my enemy, I first must become my enemy._

"My lord," A voice said from behind him. Revan folded his arms across his chest and looked over his shoulder at the captain. "Our sensors have picked up a small Republic fleet a few clicks north of our location. What are your orders?"

Revan replied without hesitation. "Send the coordinates to the rest of this fleet, and give the order to engage. Leave no survivors."

The captain bowed and said, "At once, my lord."

Revan returned his gaze to the viewport. At times like these, he would normally smirk in amusement, but not today. A dark rain cloud was cast over his mind. Something wasn't right; he felt like this day had dark intentions for him. Perhaps he was just anxious from all the anticipation. He had been planning for nearly a year, after all.

The Republic fleet came into view quickly. Revan ordered his ships to release their fighters, and open fire upon the fleet. He knew this fleet was merely a distraction; that they would barely even try to fight. In fact, this was pretty much a suicidal fleet. Therefore, Revan decided to take an idle position in terms of giving commands. He would leave this to the individual ship commanders for once. All that mattered to him was that everything went as planned. He slipped a hand inside his hood, and depressed an indentation on his helmet. He contacted four elite trained Dark Jedi, and ordered them to report to the command bridge immediately. These Dark Jedi would serve as little more than cannon fodder to weaken the Jedi so Revan wouldn't have to waste his energy before getting to Bastila.

Soon after the Dark Jedi arrived at the command bridge, an alarm went off. _Bastila. _

"Lord Revan," One of the Dark Jedi said. "We are receiving reports of a Jedi strike team infiltrating the main hangar bay. What are your orders, my lord?"

Again, Revan replied calmly and without hesitation. "The four of you will stay here and act as my guard. As for the rest of you," Revan said, motioning to the deck hands. "Send a transmission to the rest of the fleet, alerting them of what has happened. After you send the transmission, move the ship out of firing range of the Republic fleet, and return to your quarters. Also, activate the ship's external auto turrets, just in case any Republic fighters stray too far from the battle. I will signal you to return to the deck when it is safe."

The deck hands did as commanded, then they left the command bridge, leaving Revan alone with the four Dark Jedi and his thoughts.

_Bastila, my love...you and I could have had a future together had you decided to join me in the first place. But now...all chances of that are gone. I can't make room for love...unless you can convince me otherwise, that is. In any event, you will be mine, whether in the form of a lover or an apprentice. If you refuse, then you shall die. That is the way it must be, unfortunately. There is no such thing as compromise in times of war. There can only be the extremes, sadly. And if I must appear to be the darkest extreme, then so be it; I will be that extreme, no matter what the cost._

"Lord Revan," Said one of the Dark Jedi. "Darth Voern just contacted us. He said the Jedi forced him to give them the access codes to the main deck."

_Well, I guess he can't be my apprentice after all. Sniveling fool. He thinks that with me gone, he'll advance in rank. Rrrr.....so be it._

"Is anyone else with him?" Revan asked calmly.

"Yes," The Dark Jedi replied, after a moment of listening to Voren on the comlink. "He said one Sith Marauder remains with him."

"Put the Marauder on the comlink, and hand it over to me."

"Yes, one moment please. Voren, could you please put the Marauder on the comlink? Thank you." The Dark Jedi said. "Here you are, my lord."

Revan snatched the comlink out of his hand, and spoke into it. "Tell me, Marauder, what is your opinion on what Voren has done?"

"Honestly, sir, I think it an act of high treason," The Marauder said silently; he obviously didn't want Voren to hear him.

"As do I; I'm glad to see you and I share the same disposition." Revan said; he made it sound as if he were making light conversation. "Now, if you were in my position, what would you do?"

"Well, I'd probably have the culprit punished, my lord. Why do you ask?" Both curiosity and excitement layered the Sith's voice.

"The punishment for treason is death, my friend. Eliminate the traitor, and take his title of Darth Voren. For eliminating him, I shall make you a Sith Lord once this is all over."

"It shall be done, my lord."

Revan cut the link quickly, then handed the comlink back over to the Dark Jedi. _So...they now have the codes to access the bridge, eh? It's only a matter of minutes before they arrive, then._

Revan stood there and waited patiently for the blast doors to slide open. Blood was about to be shed...he could feel it. Soon, he would blow out many more candles, and would soon gain a new and improved apprentice. Today would end well for him; he could feel it.

The blast doors slid open. The sound of scrambling footsteps echoed throughout the deck, as did the sounds of lightsabers igniting. Revan turned around to see four Jedi, Bastila included, with lightsabers drawn. Besides Bastila, there were two human males, and one female Twi'lek. One of the males had a purple lightsaber, the other had a green short lightsaber; Bastila's blade was yellow, and the Twi'lek's was purple as well. With them were three Republic soldiers; it appeared that one of them was an officer.

"Darth Revan," Bastila said calmly. "This is your last chance to surrender peacefully. If you give up now, the lives of your followers will be spared, as well as yours."

_So naive, Bastila. That will all be fixed soon enough._

"Their lives are nothing to me, Bastila. As are the lives of your friends here." Revan motioned to his Dark Jedi, then said, "Finish them."

His followers drew their lightsabers, then engaged Bastila and the other three Jedi. He knew that they were no match for the Jedi, but that didn't matter. He just needed them weakened so he could finish them off single handedly. While the Dark Jedi were fighting the Jedi strike team, the Republic soldiers decided to open fire at Revan. He merely smirked, and put up a wall of Force Energy to deflect the blaster fire. Eventually, the soldiers put away their blasters and took out vibro swords.

_How pathetic..._

Revan drew his own blood red lightsaber, and awaited the Republic dogs. The two grunts ran at him; an extremely foolish attempt. He reached out with the Force, and crushed a soldier's windpipe. He waited for the other one to get close enough; the soldier swung, Revan ducked and sliced him in half. The officer was a bit smarter about his approach. He first threw a grenade at Revan, which he easily crushed in midair with the Force, which made it detonate. He officer ran through the smoke, and attempted to strike at Revan. He merely held out his hand, and lifted him up, and began to slowly strangle him. Within thirty seconds he was dead.

_And then there were four._

Bastila and the three other Jedi cornered Revan at the head of his own command deck. _It looks like the odds are still in my favor, then._

"You cannot win, Revan." Bastila declared.

"Oh, is that so?" Revan flourished his lightsaber, and entered the opening stance for Form VII. "I think the odds are in my favor."

"Then you are blind!" The human with the violet blade called out. "There are four of us, and one of you. You're outnumbered!"

"Which shows how little you know of strategy. Come, let me teach you." Revan mocked.

The Jedi screamed in anger. "You'll pay for all the lives you've stolen!"

"Jared, wait!" Bastila pleaded. "We must face him together!"

Jared didn't wait. He ran at Revan, which is exactly what Revan wanted. At exactly the right moment, Revan made a stab for the Jedi's chest, which the Jedi easily parried to his left side. _You're dead. _Jared swung for Revan, but he ducked out of the way, and immediately proceeded to plunge his lightsaber into Jared's stomach. He let out a groan of pain, then Revan removed his lightsaber from the Jedi's body, and spun out of the way to let him fall.

"Now you will see the power of the Darkside, Bastila."

He reached out with the Force to the other human male, and gripped him. He struggled against Revan's hold but it did him no good. Bastila ran at Revan in an attempt to stop him, but Revan threw the Jedi out one of the windows. The glass shattered, and the vacuum of space began sucking out the Twi'lek; Bastila managed to grab on to a computer terminal before she was sucked out; Revan used the power of the Force alone to keep him grounded. Soon after, blast armor plating lowered over the shattered window, returning the environment to normal. Bastila regained her composure, and turned to face Revan again.

"It would appear that it's just you and me, Bastila." Revan said. He took up his opening stance again.

"You're a bloody coward, Revan." Bastila said, holding her lightsaber in front of her, with the point tipped at Revan. "Even now you try to avoid judgment. I warn you once more: Surrender, and you shall not be harmed."

"I've been awaiting this moment for a long time, my old friend." Revan hissed. "I will never surrender."

"So be it, then."

Bastila took two large steps forward, and began the fight with an overhead strike. Revan easily blocked the overhead blow, and easily pushed the lightsaber into the air, then ducked down with a diagonal counter attack. Bastila jumped, avoiding the counter strike; she spun in mid air, and landed a spin kick on the side of Revan's head. He spun backwards, but quickly regained his balance.

"Very impressive," Revan remarked. "It would seem you are as skilled in combat as you are with Battle Meditation."

"Surprised, Revan?" Bastila asked smugly.

"Not really." Revan hissed.

He leapt at her, spinning sideways in midair. As he spun at her, his lightsaber was aimed for her neck, and on his spinning landing, for her legs. She narrowly avoided the strike to her neck, and managed to block the strike to her legs. Revan tapped into his pent up raw emotions, and channeled them into power, enhancing his own natural speed and strength. He struck at her with a flurry of spin attacks and lunges, giving her little room for counter attack. All he had to do was give himself into the ebb and flow of battle, and this duel would be easily won. He could feel Bastila relax, however, allowing the Force to flow through her body. It wouldn't be enough to stop him, however. He struck at her with an overhead chop, which she blocked as expected. However, he then kicked her in the stomach, sending her back a few feet. Then he held out his free hand, and launched a flurry of purple lightning at her. She raised her lightsaber, and managed to block the lightning, but Revan wasn't about to stop.

_That won't be enough, you bitch!_

He allowed the Darkside to surge through him long enough to knock the lightsaber out of her hand, then the lightning stuck her. She shrieked in pain, and was sent flying backwards a few feet. Revan smirked to himself, and deactivated his lightsaber. _It's done...now to take her prisoner._ She quickly began to stir, but she was weak. He began walking over to her, but he stopped midway.

_Wait...something's wrong. I sense a disturbance in the Force. Malak is-_

Before he could complete his thought, the command deck's terminals exploded, and all the lights went out. Malak had fired on his ship! He stumbled on the first shot, but then the second shot came. A concussive wave was sent throughout the bridge. The force of the blast knocked him unconscious. He was no longer aware of his surroundings...he wasn't dead, but he was about to lose his connection with the world.

_Malak...you diseased rat! I swear...you will die..._

Revan quickly lost consciousness.


	5. Chapter 5

All that Revan ever was, all of his memories, were now prisoners within his own mind- no, it was barely even his own mind anymore. Now it was the mind of Arias Jantos, who was not even a shadow of Revan's former self. No, Arias Jantos was more like what Revan was before the Mandalorian Wars, but not nearly as ambitious. Then again, how could he be? Arias Jantos wasn't even a Jedi anymore; he was still strong with the Force, but he was unaware of it. All the powers he once had now lied dormant, along with his memories and former personage. Arias was a soldier of the Republic, and the part of him that was Revan, who was buried deep within his own subconscious, was completely aware of it. Everyday, Revan fought against the reprograming the Jedi Masters had done to him.

The Jedi Masters reprogrammed Revan with a new identity, one loyal to the Republic. Revan was fully aware of why they did this, too. He would use their plan to his advantage, though it would take time. He had no influence over Arias, but he would be able to slowly force critical memories back into his mind, so that Arias could more easily do the Jedi Council's building-- as well as his own. Revan would use the Jedi's plan for his own means; all Arian had to do was either follow his free will, or follow the Jedi Order's bidding. Either way, Revan won in the end-- and therefore, so did the galaxy.

----------

Arias was rushed off the _Endar Spire _when the Sith attacked. He couldn't find Bastila, and his partner, Trask Ulgo, was probably killed by the Sith that they ran into on the way to the escape pods. The next thing he knew, he met a Mandalorian War veteran named Carth Onasi, who was in the escape pod with him. The pod spun furiously as it rocketed towards the planet of Taris. Arias was tossed about as the pod rocketed toward the planet, and so was Carth. Even though Arias was trained for these situations, a simulation was nothing when compared to the real thing. Arias was getting thrown about, and he was sure he had picked up at least six bruises in the past few minutes.

"First time in an escape pod, rookie?" Carth cried out in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"Is it that obvi-" Before Arias could finish his sentence, he knocked the back of his head against the escape pod. The first thing that came was the shock that followed getting knocked so hard like that. The second thing that came was the sound of metal tearing through metal. The third, was Arias finally losing consciousness.

When he came to, it felt like he had been out for just a few minutes. But when he finally realized where he was, he realized there was no way he was out for just a few minutes. He touched his hand to the back of his head, and felt a rather large bump at the back of his head. "Damn, that hurt. I hope I never have to get into an escape pod again..."

"Well, welcome back to the world of the living, buddy." Said Carth from the other side of the room. Arias looked up, and for a minute he didn't realize who it was. Then, he started to remember the brown hair and beard, and tanned skin: It was definitely Carth Onasi. That orange jacket was a bit of a dead give away.

"You're...Carth Onasi, right? The war veteran?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Carth said, getting up from his chair and walking over to the bed. "You doing all right?"

"Yeah, I think so. You dragged me out of the wreckage, didn't you?" Arias asked. He laughed a little bit, then sat on the edge of the bed. "Guess I owe you my life. Thanks."

"Heh, you don't owe me anything. We're soldiers; you'd do the same for me if you had to. Though a round of drinks on you wouldn't be a bad idea." He said sarcastically.

"Heh...yeah, I could go for a few myself." He looked around, and realized they were in a small apartment room. When he looked out the window, he thought for a minute that they were at Coruscant. However, when he remembered what their original mission, the realized that they were on Taris. According to the reports, it was like Coruscant, but with a lot more discrimination and poverty. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of days. I think you went comatose. How are you feeling?" Carth asked.

"Again, I'm fine. Though I did have a very strange dream...something about Jedi and Sith, or something like that."

"Well, I'm not surprised. You did hit your head pretty hard, after all."

"Yeah, you're right..." His eyes widened when he remembered what he was supposed to do before leaving the _Endar Spire_. He turned to Carth, and said, "What about Bastila? Do we know where she is?"

"No, I honestly have no clue. Actually, I was just about to talk to you about that." Carth said as he sat down at a nearby table. "As far as you and I know, we're the only surviving crew members of the Endar Spire. Bastila, on the other hand, is missing in action, which means that there's still a chance that she's alive. Bastila's survival was given prime importance when we were first given this mission. In my opinion, her survival is still of prime importance. What do you think?"

"I completely agree." Said Arias with a nod. "From what I've heard, her ability to use Battle Meditation is extremely important to the Republic. I don't know much about it since I'm just a private, but I know enough to understand that it's the main reason the Republic hasn't lost the war yet. Anyways...so, we're lookin' for Bastila, huh?"

"You catch on pretty quickly, rookie." Carth replied with a grim smile. "I did some scouting around. From general news reports circulating around the planet, there were two other pods that crashed on the planet. Both pods crash landed in the Undercity; apparently, the Undercity is a dangerous place. It's crawling with criminals and diseased mutants. But, if there's any chance of us finding Bastila, it will be in the Undercity."

"Yeah, you're right." Arias said. "Let's start by asking around the cantina- plus, I could do with something to drink and eat."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea." Carth said with a laugh. "Oh, wait. You're still wearing your Republic uniform."

"Huh?" Arias looked down, and saw that Carth was right. He was still wearing his red, yellow, and black Republic uniform. "Oh yeah...I guess you're right. Not exactly good for keeping a low profile."

"Heh, yeah. But don't worry," Carth said. He walked over to a footlocker, and pulled out some spare clothes. "Here. You can wear these from now on. They're probably much more comfortable than our typical uniform."

"No kidding. I can't remember the last time I wore regular clothing." He took the clothes, and thanked Carth. "I'm gonna use the refresher to change. Be right back."

Arias opened the door to the refresher, and closed it behind him. He quickly changed out of the Republic uniform, and into the regular clothing. He wore skin tight black pants and brown boots, a plain white long sleeved shirt, and a brown flight vest. He also wore fingerless leather gloves. Once he was finished changing, he looked in the mirror. His normally tan skin had actually lost some of the color-- probably because he had been comatose, and hadn't had anything to eat or drink for the past couple of days. He had a few rings under his hazel eyes, but nothing too noticeable. His hair hadn't changed; still brown, and it still gradually spiked in the front. He supposed his appearance wouldn't matter much. He was on a foreign planet where no one would recognize him. Besides, he was just a worthless soldier; the Sith troops wouldn't know who he was anyways.

As soon as he walked out of the refresher, Carth threw a utility belt at him. Arias easily caught it, and looked at it for a moment. There was a blaster and a vibroblade strapped to the belt. He looked up at Carth and arched an eyebrow. "Expecting armed resistance, are we?"

"Hey, when you've served in the army as long as I have, you're ready for anything." Carth said. Arias just realized that he spoke pretty quickly. He found it odd, but kind of interesting. The guy must have had pretty good lung capacity. "Nice reflexes, by the way. I would have thought for sure that you would have been hit by the belt, or at least startled. Nice to see you're alert."

"Thanks," Arias said as he put on the belt. "Now come on, let's get out of here. Sooner my stomach is full, the sooner we can get to work. Oh, and the food's on you; I'll pay for the drinks."

Carth smiled and laughed. "There's all ways a catch, isn't there? All right, let's get out of here."

The two of them laughed as they walked out of the apartment, but they fell dead silent when they saw what was happening in the hallway. There was a dark skinned Sith Imperial Officer with two combat droids, and in front of them were two aliens known as Duros-- they were identical, obviously. Both had oblong heads with green skin and orange eyes, with long thin fingers. It would appear that they were being apprehended by the Sith.

"All right, everybody up against the wall. This is a raid!" From behind, Arias could tell very little about him. He was dark skinned with brown hair, and about medium height. If he had to guess, he probably had brown eyes.

"What?" Demanded one of the Duros. _No, you idiot. _Arias thought. _Don't say anything to provoke him._ "This is ridiculous. The Sith were here last week, and they found nothing. Why do you keep bothering us; we have nothing to hide!"

Those were the last words to pass from his lips before the officer ended his life with the pull of a trigger.

"That's how we Sith deal with smart ass aliens." He spat angrily. "Now the rest of you up against the wall before I lose my temper again!"

"Hey, I know we're keeping a low profile," Carth whispered. "But don't you think we should help that poor guy out?"

The Duros that was still alive was hunched over his friend's body. The Duros looked like he was on the verge of tears-- chances are he just lost a very close friend or family member.

"You're speaking my language, Carth," He whispered back as he pulled out his vibroblade.

"What?" The Sith barked. He turned around to see both Carth and Arias pulling out their weapons. He glared at them for a moment, then his eyes lit up with understanding. "What the- Humans hiding out with aliens? These aliens are smuggling Republic citizens! Attack!"

The two droids turned on both Arias and Carth. For a minute, Arias thought they were doomed. The Sith battle droids were extremely accurate. If they couldn't take out the droids first, they were dead. Luckily, Arias didn't have to do anything-- Carth had all ready taken them out within five seconds. He turned around, and saw that Carth was holding not one, but two blasters. Arias smiled, then turned his attention to the Sith Officer. He was going to fire at the Duros from point blank range, and the alien was unarmed.

Arias rushed the Sith officer behind. He cut his back from behind to first grab his attention. The officer cried out in both pain and shock, but he quickly turned around and dropped his weapon to face Arias. But by the time he turned around, Arias had all ready made his next move. As soon as the officer was facing him, he made a controlled and precise swing for his throat. The officer stood still as stone, then the cut opened and blood began to spill out. The limp body fell to the ground in a matter of minutes.

He quickly disregarded the fresh corpse, then he turned to the Duros. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," The Duros replied. "I just feel sorry for poor Ixgil. He never should have talked back to that Sith Officer-- I should have warned him."

"There's nothing you could have done about it." Carth said, approaching the two of them. "You would have been killed then, and possibly Ixgil as well."

Arias nodded in agreement. He looked at the bodies for a moment, then he looked at the Duros. "What about this patrol? Won't the Sith come looking for them?"

"I doubt it." The Duros replied, looking at the bodies for a moment. "But just in case, I think I'll hide the bodies somewhere until they can be properly disposed of. Oh, and human, thank you very much for your help. Is there any way I can repay you?"

"There's no need," Arias said, smiling kindly at the Duros. "It was my pleasure. Let me know if you need any more help."

Arias and Carth said their farewells to the alien, then they proceeded to the cantina. Taris was very much like Coruscant: it was a thriving metropolis; the entire planet was one big city. However, when they stepped outside into the Upper City, they noticed a sharp difference between the apartment they just came out of, and the city itself. Unlike in the apartment, the city was full of humans- only humans. From what Arias had heard from soldiers on the Endar Spire, Taris was a planet where segregation and prejudice thrive. And he was sure that was only encouraged by the Sith.

The Sith had declared marshal law on Taris, and blockaded the planet. It was impossible to leave the planet without Sith permission. In addition, nobody could enter the planet. This effectively cut off all trade, making the planet extremely dependent upon the Sith Empire. With their tight grip on both the Tarisian government and trade, the planet had officially become a puppet to the Sith Empire with which they could do whatever they pleased.

The cantina wasn't too far away from the apartment. It took barely two minutes to get there on foot. The entrance to the cantina was guarded by a Sith trooper. Sith armor was very distinctive. The armor plating was a metallic silver that reflected the surroundings. It was probably meant to confuse opponents and give the Sith soldiers a certain amount of camouflage. Their helmets had a black blast shield to protect their faces, as well as hide them-- the blast shields were tinted, so their faces were well hidden. As they walked into the cantina, the soldier noted them with a curt nod, but mentioned nothing about their weapons.

The cantina was like any other- loud music, and a lot of voices. Rumors were easily passed around in cantinas, so chances are that he and Carth would easily learn something from the many conversations carrying on around them. As they sat down to eat their meals, he noticed something odd about Carth. He was being very quiet. He didn't ask Arias anything, and he didn't try to start light conversation. He'd have to fix that.

"Hey Carth, would you mind telling me a little bit about yourself?"

"Huh, what?" Carth seemed a little bit startled by the question. He frowned at Arias, then said, "Why?"

"Well, since we'll be working together, I don't see why I can't get to know you. That isn't a problem, is it?"

"Well, no, I suppose there isn't." Carth replied reluctantly. He took in a deep breath, then continued. "I was born on Telos IV. I've served in the Republic fleet for about fifteen years or so, and I'm a veteran of the Mandalorian Wars.

"After the Mandalorian Wars were over, I went back to Telos IV to be with my wife and son," He paused for a minute, took in a deep breath, then continued. "Telos was one of the first planets the Sith attacked in the beginning of the war. Malak ordered his fleet to bombard the planet. My wife died in the attack."

_You're very to the point..._ Arias thought to himself. He also noted the tiny tone of guilt in his voice. "They way you say it makes it sound as if it's your fault. You make it sound as if you failed them somehow."

"No, no I shouldn't have failed them, and I know it's not my fault," Carth snapped. "I'm just a soldier; I follow the orders my superiors give me. It just..." He sighed, then continued. "It just seems like no matter what I do, I fail. And I shouldn't, I know that."

"I'm sorry Carth, I know this must be painful for you." Arias replied. He genuinely did feel sorry for Carth; this clearly still affected him deeply.

"Look, you don't have to feel sorry for me, all right?" He snapped again. A few seconds of silence followed, then he sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you. I'm just not used to talking about my past much. At all, now that I think about it. Anyways..." He looked off into space, then sighed a little bit. He obviously wanted a change of subject. After a minute or so, he turned back to Arias, and said, "Look...let's get out of here. I don't think these people have much information for us."

"I agree." Arias left a few credits on the table, then stood up. "Where do you suggest looking, then?"

"Well, while you were still comatose, I found some other apartments up north. There seem to be more humans there who would be more likely to respond to our questions than aliens would, I suspect. Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

_"This place is quite literally a prison," Revan said aloud as he paced back and forth across the white canvas that was his own subconscious. "I'm trapped within my own mind by the Jedi Council. Those fools...they have no idea what they have done."_

_Over time, Revan had come to accept that the only way he would be able to resurface was by slowly pushing Arias closer and closer to the Star Forge by making his memories bubble to the surface. It wouldn't be too hard to do that, however. All he had to do was fight some of the bonds, and he would be able to make the memories bubble back to the surface. The Jedi Council was actually very foolish. If Revan's will weren't so strong, the memories would never return. A reprogramming like this often meant irreversible change. It would only be through Revan's will alone that the memories would return._

_"Perhaps they knew this all ready? The Jedi Council does have its moments, after all." Within his own subconscious, he hadn't changed. His appearance was the same as before he was captured; in both physical appearance and clothing. Since he no longer needed to hide his face from the world, he removed his hood and helmet, allowing the corruption of the dark side to show. Within his own subconscious, he was still the embodiment of dark power. He knew Arias, or his former self, to be more exact, would be the exact opposite: he'd probably be the embodiment of light. He was just fine with that. In the end, when Revan finally resurfaced, he'd be more powerful than ever before, which meant he'd be able to stop the True Sith before they could strike._

_"The Jedi Council..." He said to himself. "Decided to make this into a battle. First, they chained me to my own subconscious, unwittingly, I might add. I broke free after much struggling...I had to call upon the power of the Force several times. Hm...perhaps the more I call upon the Force within my own mind, the quicker Arias' Force Powers will grow. We shall see. In any event...those bonds probably weren't the last challenge I'll have to deal with."_

_He looked over his shoulder at the shattered chains he had broken free of. He smirked to himself, then began to recite the Sith Code._

"Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Through passion, I gain strength.

Through strength, I gain power.

Through power, I gain victory.

Through victory, my chains are broken."

_He began to chuckle to himself, then his chuckle slowly built into laughter, which turned into a almost manic cackle. After a few minutes, he shouted into his own subconscious in defiance of the Jedi Council. "Did you think your chains could hold Darth Revan, the true Dark Lord of the Sith!? Did you think you were a match for my superior mind!? You were wrong! I will all ways be more powerful than you!"_

_"Is that what you think, Revan?" Came a frail old voice from behind him._

_"Kreia..." Revan turned around to face his former teacher. When he had left her, she was only in her mid fifties. Her hair had begun graying, and her eye sight had begun to go bad from disuse. She wore a simple set of Jedi robes, but he knew that this appearance was little more than a disguise. "Or should I say, Darth Traya."_

_"How long have you known?"_

_"I can tell you this much: My Sith Assassins are more loyal than you think." Revan said defiantly. He folded his arms across his chest, and frowned at her. "What are you doing here, in my subconscious? Your memory is of no use to me any longer."_

_"Ah, but I am still a part of your history, Revan." She said, her tone never straying from it's typical monotone state. "Therefore, I will all ways be part of your mind."_

_"That does not answer my question." Revan said patiently. "Why are you here?"_

_"You doubt yourself, my young apprentice."_

_Their surroundings suddenly changed from stark white to the Council Chambers at the Jedi Enclave located on Dantooine. Revan looked around for a moment to re-familiarize himself with the surroundings. He definitely remembered this place. It was a large circular room, with only one table and two chairs on the far side of the room. At the front of the circle were the seats where the Jedi Masters were going to sit, and behind them were two miniature gardens, each with a medium sized trees. It took him only a second to take it all in, then look back at Kreia with an even deeper frown._

_"You're as cryptic as ever, you old crow."_

_He then realized that her appearance had changed in an instant. She was no longer wearing her Jedi robes, but black Sith robes. Her eyes were no longer milky white from disuse, but pitch black. And her face had darkened; not tanned, but it had lost color to the extent where it was almost gray. _

_"I am not as you remember, am I?" She asked._

_"How- how is this possible!?" Revan stammered. "This is not part of my memory...what's going on here?"_

_"Ah, but you have imagined this. Somehow you knew all along that this is what I looked like as a Sith. I know not how, but you knew. Perhaps it was that precognition you are so gifted with?" Kreia asked. She paused as if to wait for an answer, then she shook her head in disappointment. "You, Revan, are my greatest failure-- and perhaps my greatest success."_

_"What do you mean?" Revan demanded. He had little patience for someone he had surpassed long ago._

_"You, Revan, nearly brought the Republic to it's knees. You would have had it under your control by the end of last year-- if not for the fact that you did not see Malak's betrayal coming. For that, you are a failure."_

_"How does that make me a failure? I cannot see into the future." Revan retorted. "I can only plan ahead and manipulate, but I cannot see what is set in stone. You Kreia, are the failure. You failed a a Jedi, and eventually you will fail as a Sith; You're a pathetic disgrace to our kind."_

_"Insolent maggot!" Kreia cried. She held out her hand, and a barrage of blue lighting flew at Revan. He held out his hand, and the lightning struck his palm. It would have electrocuted anyone else, but Revan instead absorbed it. He not only absorbed the energy and raw power, but also the hatred and anger within it. He smiled devilishly and reveled in the raw emotions within the electrical currents, then he clenched his open hand into a fist, and lifted it high above his head. He released the power he had absorbed in a storm of lightning that was sent flying in all directions, ultimately cutting off any hope of Kreia's escape. She cried out in agony as dozens of forks of lightning struck her over and over again. After a few seconds, Revan finally ceased. He was surprised to see she was not reduced to ashes, yet. _She isn't real...of course she isn't dead yet. There's a higher purpose to this..._ She was severely weakened by the barrage, but she still managed to stand up._

_"Very impressive, Revan," Kreia said, her voice still monotone. "I see you have learned much in my absence."_

_"More than you could have ever taught me," Revan retorted. "Now, why are you here? And answer me not with riddles. I'll have no more of your nonsense, you old crow."_

_"Very well. I am an obstacle in your path, Revan," Kreia said, pushing back a flap of her robe to reveal a double bladed lightsaber. "As with all obstacles, Revan, you must get past me."_

_Revan frowned at the lightsaber, then looked at Kreia again. "And what is the purpose of this?"_

_Kreia smirked, then answered. "All ways asking questions...perhaps I did teach you well. The purpose of this, Revan, is to help you unlock the key memories you need to awaken yourself in the physical world. The Jedi may have their own agendas, but the Force has its own agenda as well, Revan. It needs your mind back in the physical world. This can only be accomplished through many struggles, Revan. Your life has been full of conflict, and so must your mind." She pulled out her lightsaber, and ignited the dual crimson blades. "Now come. See if you can best your own master, Revan."_

_"As is the Sith tradition. I suppose I never truly bested you in a duel to the death, did I?" Revan asked sarcastically. He took out his own lightsaber as well, and ignited the blood red blade. "So be it, then. We shall face each other in mortal combat. Sith Lord against Sith Lady. Whoever comes out on top will be dominant, and the other will be wiped out forever." _She's never going to step foot in my mind again.

_Revan leapt at her, and came down from midair with an overhead chop. She twirled her dual blades, and knocked the blade to the side, so it would fall harmlessly out of the way at an angle. Revan remised from his position, and made an upwards diagonal swing aimed to cut through her chest. Again, with a twirl of the saber staff, she effortlessly parried the blow, sending it careening to the side. He followed the momentum of his blade, allowing it to take him into a crouching spin. As he made the full 360 degree turn, he swung for her legs. Again, she parried it, forcing it in the opposite direction. Revan again followed the momentum, and attempted to sweep her feet out from under her with a spin kick. This time, when her blade twirled around, it singed through his robe-- only to meet with a cortosis weave boot. His kick knocked the blade out of the way, and he swept her feet out from under her._

_He allowed the Force to fill him, and leapt from his crouching position. He quickly came down on her, and attempted to impale her while she was still on the ground. However, she rolled away just in time, and quickly leapt to her feet. Revan stood up straight, and glared at her defiantly._

_"You're using Soresu. I should have expected as much." _She seeks to make me expend all of my energy. It won't work.

_"You shouldn't be so surprised, Revan." She replied, twirling the saber staff around as if it were a mere plaything. "You are a fierce fighter, and you know how to batter through defenses. However, Soresu, once mastered, is nearly impregnable. You will have to change tactics, otherwise you will be defeated."_

_"Thank you for stating the obvious, Kreia." He pulled out a second lightsaber hidden in his cloak, and ignited it's brilliant violet blade. He rushed at Kreia, but stopped when he saw something incredible: Three violet lightsabers were spinning around her, creating an impenetrable wall of both offense and defense. "Impressive, Kreia..."_

_Just as he was about to call on the dark side to destroy the spinning blades, they came flying at him. He gasped, then entered a passive aggressive stance: One blade held beside his head with the blade pointed at Kreia to attack, and the other one kept close to his torso to defend. He summoned the force to take the attack in quickly-- one lightsaber came in quickly on his right, the other slowly on his left, and the third one was held back, as if waiting for an opening. Revan would make sure it wasn't going to get one. He called upon his innermost emotions-- his anger, pent up hatred, and secret fears, and allowed them to fill him with rage, increasing his own speed and strength to accomplish the task at hand. Once the rage couldn't be held back anymore, he crouched low and released it in a sonic scream, then released the power of the Force, allowing his lightsabers to create a saber barrier around him, destroying the two approaching lightsabers. The last one, however, was called back to Kreia's hand._

All you've done is make me lower my ability to summon the Force-- for a short time. I can hold you off until I can summon the power to destroy you with the power of the dark side.

-------------------

_A lot has happened in the past few days._ Arias thought to himself as he checked his equipment. _I just can't believe I'm now going to be representing a lower city gang in a swoop race._

Two days ago, Arias and Carth went to check out the North apartments to see if there were any aliens who could give them useful information. As it turned out, they got lucky. While they were exploring the apartments and asking random passers by, he and Carth heard the masked voices of Sith Officers just down the hall. They ran to go see what was happening, and saw that they were interrogating what appeared to be an Aqualish; the Aqualish were a tusked alien species from the planet Ando; their appearances combined certain aspects of arachnids and pinniped aquatic animals. They were typically generalized as a crude and brutish race; most of them sought jobs off world as mercenaries, bounty hunters, and pirates.

From bits of the conversation, the two of them guessed that he was being interrogated on the accusation that he had stolen Sith uniforms and sold them to the gangs in the Lower City. The alien seemed genuinely innocent; Arias couldn't stand it. He demanded that the interrogations stop, and a battle ensued. After the struggle ceased, Arias and Carth spoke to the Aqualish, who admitted that he did actually steal Sith uniforms and sold them to the Hidden Beks, a gang in the Lower City. The Aqualish said that the Beks might be able to help Arias and Carth find Bastila, but they would need Sith uniforms to get into the Lower City in order to fool the guard who stood at the elevator to the Lower City. The two of them stole the defeated Sith soldiers uniforms, and disguised themselves as Sith troopers. Their disguises worked, and they managed to get into the Lower City.

While in the Lower City, they learned about the struggle between the Hidden Beks and the Black Vulkars. They also met a Twi'lek named Mission, and a wookie named Zalbaar, who joined their party after Arias rescued Zalbaar from gamoreans who intended to sell him as a slave; for this, Zalbaar pledged a life debt to Arias.

All of these events either led up to or were related to the deal he made with Gadon Thek, the leader of the Hidden Beks. He had agreed to retrieve the prototype swoop accelerator from the Vulkars, and in return Gadon promised that he would help find Bastila. As it turned out, the Vulkars were offering the young Jedi as a prize to the Taris Swoop Champion, which meant Arias had no choice but to help the Hidden Beks. He and Carth were a bit skeptical about this, but both Mission and Gadon assured them that Gadon was a man of his word. When Arias returned with the swoop accelerator, Gadon proposed that Arias represent the Beks with the prototype accelerator installed on the bike Gadon would lend him. Arias agreed, but mainly because he was cornered: The only way to get Bastila back was by winning that swoop race. Plus, the accelerator hadn't been tested yet, and Gadon didn't want to endanger any of his gang members. Arias, true to his good hearted nature, agreed to represent the Beks.

Carth was confident in Arias; he said earlier that Arias had the skills of an elite commando, and he was a quick thinker. It was for this reason that Carth had decided to put Arias alone in charge of rescuing Bastila. He, Mission, and Zalbaar would meanwhile look for a way off Taris for when they finally did find Bastila. That meant Arias was left alone with the Beks.

With all of these events, he learned two interesting things about his new friends. The first was that Carth had trust issues with...well, everyone. He doesn't trust himself or anyone, for that matter. The second thing he learned was that Mission had met Zalbaar through a run in with the Vulkars; Zalbaar was her family since her brother Griff had left her. When he asked about Griff, she said she didn't want to talk about him. Arias decided to give her time, since it was probably a personal matter.

He finished checking his equipment, then he left the bunk room and went into the hallway where a Rodian was waiting for him; he was to be Arias' escort to the race track. The Hidden Bek base was empty, save for himself, the Rodian, and a security team. The rest of the Beks were at the track getting ready for the swoop race. The Rodian nodded at Arias, then led him out of the Hidden Bek base through an exit that would take them almost directly to the track.

Arias had to admit he was a bit nervous. He had no experience with swoop racing. However, he had driven swoop bikes before, so it shouldn't be a problem for him. The thing that made him nervous was all the pressure riding on this. If he lost the swoop race, one of the Vulkars would win Bastila as a slave, and he wouldn't be able to rescue her. They would probably be able to find her again eventually, but it would take too long. This was the easiest way to rescue her.

When they arrived at the swoop track, he realized just how much variety there was in the Lower City. Aliens of almost every race lined the stands, and there were very few humans. The bulk of those present were Rodians, Twi'leks, and Niktos. In fact, most of the Vulkars were Niktos, where as the Beks were made up of mainly Rodians and Twi'leks. Ironically enough, both gangs were led by humans.

----------------------

"Should I go over the instructions again?" The Ithorian asked.

"No, no, you don't have to worry." Arias replied. The Ithorian mechanic was bustling around behind him as he was suiting up to begin his run. "I've piloted swoops before. But could you go over the rules again?"

"Well, it's pretty simple. You just have to beat the posted time and you win that run. If you win twice, then you win the champion ship." The Ithorian was practically hovering over Arias as he finished putting on his race suit. It was much like a flight suit, but it was made to be speed resistant so he wouldn't pass out or anything like that. The fact that the Ithorian was practically breathing down his neck nearly made Arias go deaf-- with their two mouths and four lungs, they were practically speaking in stereo. He wasn't prejudiced against them, but it did get a tad bit annoying. "And just be careful," He whispered; well, it would have been a whisper if he were human or a race similar to humans. "We don't know how many runs the prototype accelerator can take before it overheats, so try to make it a quick victory."

"I'll do my best." He replied sincerely. He put on his helmet, then turned on the audio. "What's the time to beat?"

"Thirty-six seconds. Not the best time, but not the worst; Redros has had better runs. But don't worry, you should be able to beat that time easily," The mechanic assured. "And watch out for the debris on the track, and keep an eye out for the accelerator pads. They'll boost your speed, and with the help of the prototype accelerator, you'll go five times as fast as you usually would. Want me to repeat anything else?"

"No, I think I'll be fine. Thank you." He smiled at him from behind his helmet, then hopped into the swoop. He accelerated enough to bring it up to the starting line, then awaited the announcement. He had piloted swoops before, so he knew what he was doing. However, when he had pulled up to the starting line, he felt more power in it than there would be in a regular swoop. He actually had to slow down a little bit when he was pulling up, otherwise he would have raced on to the track before being given the green light.

_"Ladies and gentlemen!" _The track manager announced. From the language he spoke and the sound of his voice, Arias could tell he was a Duros. He had all ready seen the manager, but the speakers made it very obvious that it was the track manager making the announcement. _"We have an unexpected treat in store for you today. A young man named Arias Jantos is being sponsored by the Hidden Beks. He has no past racing experience, so this should be an interesting run! On my mark, the race will begin!_

_"On your mark. Get set." _Arias gave the engine some juice, getting ready to launch into the track. _"Go!"_

The swoop bike took off with a roar, the cheers of the crowd quickly disappearing behind the furious cry of the swoop engine.


	7. Chapter 7

_Revan stood over Kreia's lifeless body, watching to make sure she stayed down. He dealt a killing blow to her chest that impaled her heart and severed her spinal cord, so it was doubtful she'd get up again, especially since he couldn't feel her presence. She was merely an illusion, but she was a very realistic one. She fought like Kreia, spoke like Kreia, and even moved like Kreia. However, that didn't change the fact that she wasn't real; therefore, she could have risen and attacked him again. After a few more minutes passed, Revan was satisfied and deactivated his dual lightsabers. He clipped them to his belt, then looked the Council room over once more._

Everything is as it should be...there are even doors leading to the training rooms and the rest of the Enclave.

_Revan remembered what happened when he broke through the Council's first illusion. He gained an awareness-- more like a revelation, actually-- that one of his memories had been revealed to Arias. That awareness did not come when he struck down Kreia. That could only mean that there was more to this test._

_His gaze fell upon the single table in the Council chambers. His Mandalorian helmet lay still on the table top. He reached out with the Force, and summoned the helm to himself. Once it was a few feet away from him, it paused, then turned around and levitated towards him backwards. It slowly lowered itself on to Revan's head. It rested comfortably, then there was a slight snap as the helmet was automatically fastened to his skull. He pulled his hood over his head, then depressed an indentation on the side of the helmet, activating the thermal vision setting. He looked at the doors that led to the training room and the rest of the Enclave. _Nothing.

Of course not...nothing is truly alive here. It's all an illusion. Wait...this was all caused by the Force, so it would have an energy signature. Perhaps if I...

_He switched to energy scan mode, and found what he was looking for. There was a single powerful presence in the training room, and dozens of lesser presences in the rest of the Enclave. Revan deactivated the setting, allowing the vision to return to normal._

Best to take out the greater presence first.

_He took out one of his lightsabers, and ignited the blood red blade. He slowly approached the door, allowing his anger and hatred to swell up like a balloon inside of him. When it felt like he couldn't hold the rage in any longer, he unleashed it upon the training room door. Durasteel plating twisted and bent as the door was blown in, destroying the sliding mechanism that allowed it to open. He stepped through the opening, and saw who was awaiting him: Master Zhar Lestin, one of his first Jedi Masters._

_"Zhar...I must say I'm surprised that you are my next opponent. I was expecting someone more challenging."_

_"If you think I'll be a pushover," The pink skinned Twi'lek replied, not bothering with the pleasantries as he ignited a golden bladed lightsaber. "You are sadly mistaken."_

_Revan merely nodded. "So be it, then. I'll make this quick."_

_He lunged at his former master, swinging at his right arm. The Jedi Master blocked the attack, but Revan quickly followed up with a spinning swing aimed for his neck; again, his blade met with Zhar's, but slid across. Revan then followed up with a quick, compressed strike aimed to cut Zhar's chest open, but his strike was parried out of the way. Zhar then riposted with a lunge aimed for Revan's shoulder. Revan side stepped the attack, and angled his lightsaber at the floor in a parry prime position, from which he spun around behind Zhar. He gripped the saber with both hands, then knocked his former Master in the back of the head with the butt of the hilt. Zhar was sent stumbling forward off balance. He nearly tripped, but he quickly regained his composure, and went on the offensive. _

_Revan practiced two forms: Form VI: Niman, and Form VII: Juyo. He incorporated some elements of Form II: Makashi into his style of Niman, to make it precise, but still unconventional. Form VII was one of the more wild lightsaber forms. It required complete surrender to the uncontrollable ebb and flow of battle. It was a very dangerous form, because if not properly mastered, even the greatest Jedi Master could fall to the darkside. The form's greatest strength was the fact that few Force Users practiced it, so they were inexperienced against the form's unpredictable strikes. Revan incorporated some elements of Form IV: Ataru into his Juyo style; this was good because Ataru incorporated allowing the Force to flow through the user in order to achieve inhuman physical feats. Coupling the ebb and flow of battle with the power of the Force itself made for a deadly duel. For all intents and purposes, Revan was an aggressive duelist; he was fluent in Form III: Soresu, but he rarely ever used it, preferring instead to wear down his enemies then finish them off. Since he practiced very aggressive forms of fighting, his own deadly inferno was being fought by another fiery duelist._

_Zhar was a Jedi Sentinel; Sentinels were Jedi who balanced combat training and the Force. Zhar was using Form IV: Ataru. After Zhar had recovered from Revan's strike, he automatically went on the offensive. Revan continued to use Form VI, however. This way he could counter Zhar with unconventional blocks and parries, throwing Zhar off and confusing him so Revan could strike at him with counterattacks. As soon as Zhar went on the offensive, he gained an edge. He became extremely fast, which meant that at times Revan only had a split second to dodge, otherwise he would lose his head. However, Zhar had picked an unwise location to fight Revan. The training room was very small; slightly smaller than a one-person apartment room. It had a low ceiling, and benches lined the center of the room. Zhar could have used these benches for his acrobatics, but the low ceiling prevented him from doing so. If the duel spilled over into the Council chambers, Zhar would have gained the advantage. However, Revan kept his back to the door of the Council chambers so Zhar wouldn't be able to change the playing fields. _

_So far, whenever Zhar had backed Revan closer to the Council chambers, he managed to drive him back with an onslaught of attacks. However, Zhar would be able to quickly go on the offensive again, and put Revan back on defense. He wanted this to happen, however. Ataru required the user to draw heavily upon the Force to perform impossible feats of speed and acrobatics. This meant the user would tire easily, and if they couldn't finish the fight quickly, there was a strong chance they could lose. Form VI, on the other hand, allowed the user to enter a meditative "battle trance" in a duel, allowing the Force to flow through them as they fought. In addition, because they were in a "battle trance," they would almost never run out of Force energy._

_From the very moment Revan had gone on the defensive, he had been storing his hate and rage deep inside him as he allowed the Force to flow through his body. The darkness within him was full to bursting, begging to be released. Revan was ready to release it; Zhar was exhausted. Now he was desperate to back Revan into the Council chambers, so he could get one more advantage against Revan to end the fight. Revan allowed it this time._

_Once they were two feet over the threshold, Zhar's face seemed to light up with hope. That was all he needed to boost his own Force Powers, if only temporarily. Revan felt Zhar call upon the Force, then unleashed it upon him; it happened so quickly Revan didn't even see it coming. The blast of power knocked Revan back several feet, and only skidded to a stop just as he was about to hit the opposite wall. He was disorientated for a moment, but quickly regained awareness of what was going on. The Council chamber was an extremely large circular room, and it didn't really have a ceiling. This meant Zhar had complete acrobatic freedom. Usually this would be a problem for Revan, but since his opponent was putting his hopes on one final attack, he had the advantage._

_He looked up, and saw Zhar in midair, coming right towards Revan. He held his golden blade over his right shoulder in both hands. As he came closer to Revan, he was obviously preparing to make the killing blow. _Too bad you won't get a chance.

_The energies of the darkside were beginning to leak out of Revan; it was metaphysically manifesting itself in a transparent crimson sphere around Revan's free hand. The red and yellow lightning surged inside and around the sphere, threatening to detonate if not released soon. It was a pure expression of the power of the dark side: Use it, or be destroyed by it. Revan chose to use it. _

_He held out his hand, and with a scream he released the full fury of the dark side. The sphere detonated in a wide arc, scorching anything that was unfortunate enough to be caught in it's blast radius. The red and yellow lightning struck Zhar's entire body, sending him flying back into the training room as he cried in shocked agony. There was a dull thud, then everything fell silent. _He's still alive...I know it. The Light side of the Force is strong with Zhar. It probably protected him just enough so he wouldn't be destroyed. _He groaned as he rose to his feet. He took a moment to marvel at what he had wrought. Everything three yards in front of him was either scorched or on fire. He looked behind him, and saw that the two miniature gardens had actually wilted from the fury of the darkside. As for the trees, all the leaves had fallen off, and the trunks had blackened. _This is nothing compared to what the True Sith can do. _Revan reminded himself grimly. _They could destroy entire planets with the Force if they wanted to. I must never forget that.

_He nodded to himself, then sighed in relief as he felt the built-in rejuvenation of Niman kick in. He then slowly proceeded to the training room to finish off his opponent; he wanted to finish it quickly, but why strike an opponent when he's down? That's not good sportsmanship, after all. He stepped through the doorway, and saw Zhar struggling to his feet. He was cut and bleeding in several places. And his lekku,-- the tails that extended from the back of his skull, and wrapped around his neck-- the most sensitive part of a Twi'lek's body, were bleeding profusely, and had turned almost completely black from quickly formed bruises. No doubt the Force had kept him from dying. Zhar had probably immersed himself in the light; it clearly saved his life. And now Revan would end it._

_As soon as Zhar was back on his feet, Revan took a few large steps towards him. He held his blade in both hands, bringing his arms back in a recoil. He paused five feet away from Zhar for one mere second, then swung at the metal floor, sending sparks flying at Zhar. The sparks struck him in the face, blinding him. He cried out in surprise and pain, the sparks burning his face. He dropped his weapon as he clutched his scarred face in his hands, leaving him defenseless. Revan continued the advance, following the swing of his own weapon into a spin. As he came back around to face Zhar, he brought the blade up in a powerful swing. The humming blade cut through his right arm and made a deadly five centimeter deep cut in his chest. The hand fell off, and the body soon went limp and collapsed as well._

_As Revan turned around and sheathed his weapon, he realized two things. The first was the familiar realization that he had unlocked another memory, and that he could soon choose when to make it surface. The second was that he felt an all too familiar presence near Arias. A presence he both adored, and despised. The presence of someone he hated to love, and loved to hate. The presence of the very same person who had saved him. Ever since his reprogramming, this presence was a faint whisper for some reason, but now it came loud and clear._

Bastila.

--------------------

Arias finished his first run with a time of 00:30:26. Chances are he could have gotten a better time, but he used his first run to get a feel for the swoop accelerator. He had briefly served as a scout before receiving official soldier training, so it was his job to take a swoop bike and scout the battlefield before the actual battle began. When he compared a regular swoop bike with the one he was using in this race, he felt like he used to ride a tricycle before this. The prototype accelerator made the swoop go five times as fast when you changed gears, and nearly seven times as fast when you went over the speed boost pads. If it weren't for his quick reflexes, he probably would have run into the debris during the race.

After his run was over, a Kadas'sa'Nikto named Redros beat his time with 00:28:15. The Kadas'sa'Nikto originated in the milder climatic regions of Kintan, such as the forests and the seacoasts. Their scaly faces had small facial horns surrounding the eyes and on the chin. Their main distinguishing feature was the long climbing claws on their hands, which could also be used in combat. Redros was the Black Vulkar's top swoop racer, so Arias wasn't too surprised that he beat his time. However, he was a bit surprised because he thought no one would be able to beat the accelerator. It made sense, though; he used his first run in order to get used to the bike. Other than that, however, he had an ulterior motive.

From what Gadon had told him the day before the race, he was able to speculate how much of a boost the swoop accelerator would give him. When he pulled up for his first run, he realized that he was right. In other words, there were two purposes to his first run. The first purpose was to get adjusted to the speed, so he had a good idea of how to handle it. The second purpose was to set up a time the next racer could beat by a few seconds. Since Redros beat his time by just barely two seconds, Arias knew he could win the race with ease, and blow away the competition.

----------------

_"That was the most amazing time I've ever seen!" _The track manager cried out over the intercom. _"Arias Jantos blew away the competition with a time of twenty three seconds, and thirty-six milliseconds! Arias Jantos, please report to the Judge's platform to collect your prize!"_

Arias was extremely proud of himself. It was his first ever swoop race, and he completely dominated the match. Between the adrenaline pumping through his veins and the roar of the crowd, his head was swimming. And, besides that, Bastila would be freed soon. It would appear that the day was going to end well.

He was allowed to quickly change back into his regular clothes before he had to report to the Judge's platform. However, before he put on his regular clothes, he put on a thin impact absorbing and energy resistant vest on, and wore his regular shirt and vest over it. He did this on Carth's recommendation, just in case things went awry. If there was one thing he learned from Carth in the past few days, it's that you should all ways be looking over your shoulder. Normally he would have grabbed his vibroblade as well, but the security guards confiscated his blaster and vibroblade. Though he had a good feeling that the day would end well, he couldn't help but feel like something...unexpected was about to happen. He shook off the feeling, then proceeded to the Judge's platform.

He was met by a hovercraft being piloted by a Rodian. The hovercraft swiftly took him up to the Judge's platform, where a small crowd of people were awaiting him. On his left side, were two Vulkar racers. One was Redros, and the other was another Nikto he had never seen before. By the looks on their faces when Arias arrived, they weren't too happy about their defeat. Besides that, however, they seemed to be hiding something. He couldn't tell what, but he didn't like it. He shook off his feeling, then observed the rest of his surroundings.

On his right side, were two Hidden Bek racers. One was a yellow skinned female Twi'lek named Anglu. She had an athletic build, and still wore her flight suit that clung to her figure. In front of her was an Aqualish that he didn't recognize either. When they noticed him, they both nodded in approval, and Anglu gave him a half smile. He took that as a "congratulations."

A few meters ahead of him was the Judge's terminal, with the Duros race track manager standing behind it. Standing to the left of the terminal was a dark skinned man with black hair. He was clean shaven, expect for the stubble on his jaw and chin. He was of moderate height, about the same size as Arias. He couldn't tell from his distance, but it looked like he had beady black eyes. He guessed this man was Brejik, leader of the Black Vulkars. The uneasiness he felt earlier was not dismissed by the fact that Brejik had a blaster and vibroblade strapped to his belt. Now he was almost certain something wasn't right.

When he looked to the right of the Judge's terminal, he immediately noticed a woman in black and brown slave girl's outfit-- if you could call it an outfit, that is. She had pale skin and brown hair, and she appeared to be well developed. She seemed to be roughly a B-cup; she had an all around good, athletic figure. She seemed to be wearing a collar of some sort. Whatever it was, it seemed to disorientate her quite a bit. She seemed out of focus, and it looked like she was muttering incoherent words to herself.

_Bastila._

This was definitely her. The main reason he recognized her right away was because of the dream he had when they first crashed on the planet's surface.

_You'll be free soon enough, Bastila. Don't worry..._

Of course, he'd have to wait for her to be released. Her cage was guarded by a Nikto Black Vulkar wielding a double bladed vibrosword. A few meters away from the guard was another Black Vulkar with a blaster; he was probably there for backup in case something went wrong.

Arias walked towards the Judge's terminal, and stopped about five feet away from it. He had a feeling the Duros was going to make a speech to introduce him. As he opened his mouth to begin, Brejik interrupted him.

"Before you introduce this so-called Hidden Bek _champion_," Brejik spat; he had a voice that instantly reminded Arias of a rat. To be more precise, it reminded him of a rat with nasal congestion. It definitely did not suit the persona of a notorious swoop gang leader. "I regret to inform you that this man cheated!"

Arias could hear the gasps from the crowd. He knew Brejik was right, but why did he care? Gangs weren't exactly known for their honesty. Arias could only think of one response. "Your a damn liar, Brejik!" He snapped. His voice was deeper and smoother than Brejik's. He never thought he'd be so relieved to hear his own voice. "You can't prove anything!"

"Oh, is that so?" He mocked. "I have proof that your swoop bike was modified with an _illegal _prototype accelerator-- clearly an unfair advantage. In light of this information, I'm withdrawing the Vulkar's share of the victory prize!"

_No, you can't do that, you double crossing snake! _Arias thought furiously. His gaze flickered at Bastila, then he refocused on Bastila when he noticed something different. _Wait...she isn't hunched over anymore, and she isn't muttering to herself. What's going on here?_

"You can't do that Brejik!" The swoop judge objected. Arias returned his focus to Brejik and the Judge, waiting to see how this would play out. "You can't just withdraw your prize after it has all ready been submitted. It's against our most sacred traditions; I won't allow you to withdraw your share of the victory prize."

Arias wanted to speak out against calling Bastila "it," but he decided to hold his tongue. He could argue against the injustice of slavery another time.

"You old fool," Brejik hissed in reply. "Your traditions mean nothing to me! I am the wave of the future. If I want to withdraw my prize and sell this woman on the slave market nobody will stop me!"

"I might have something to say about that, Brejik." Said a smooth, calm voice that could only be Bastila's.

In that instant, time seemed to freeze for a minute. Images of Bastila and a small team of Jedi flashed before his eyes. It was the same setting as his first dream: Bastila struck down a Dark Jedi in what appeared to be the bridge of a ship. This time, however, when she struck down the Dark Jedi, three Jedi ran up behind her and joined her. At the head of the deck was a man clad in black robes. His face was concealed by a hood and what appeared to be a Mandalorian helmet. Bastila ordered him to surrender; the man flourished a blood red lightsaber, and prepared for battle. He killed three of the Jedi, but then there was an explosion. The man seemed to be dead, but Bastila approached him. Before he could find out what she did, the dream ended and he returned to the real world. He was dazed for a minute, but he quickly regained his focus and composure.

Bastila had opened the cage with the Force. The cage door swung open and struck the Vulkar guard in the back of the neck, killing him instantly. Bastila kneeled down and picked up the double bladed vibrosword, obviously preparing for battle. Arias looked around, and saw Redros drawing a vibrosword, and the other one drawing a blaster. He returned his focus to Brejik, at the same time slowly backing up to get closer to Redros and the other Nikto.

"What? Impossible," Brejik stammered. "You were restrained by a neural disruptor! How could you possibly have summoned the will to free yourself?"

"You underestimate the power of a Jedi's mind, Brejik," Bastila retorted venomously. "A mistake you won't live to regret."

Brejik glared at her angrily, then wildly shouted, "Vulkars, to me! Kill this woman! Kill the swoop rider! Kill them all!"

In battle, one only had an instant to take everything in. Bastila engaged the other Vulkar that had been standing next to her guard, and the Judge and the two Hidden Beks that were present had fled the sight. Brejik was shooting at Bastila, but thanks to her Jedi reflexes she easily avoided them while still fighting the other Black Vulkar. Redros was coming at Arias with his vibrosword raised, whereas the other Nikto stood back and waited. As long as Redros was in the way, he wouldn't open fire. Arias could use this to his advantage.

Redros swung at Arias with an overhead strike, but Arias quickly dodged the attack. He hit Redros' shoulder and arm with a couple quick jabs, hitting key pressure points that would make him lose his grip in his left hand. Now that Redros wasn't blocking the other Nikto's view, however, he wouldn't be afraid to fire. Knowing this, Arias quickly grabbed Redros just as the Nikto was about to fire. Knowing full well that he wouldn't have enough time to change tactics, Arias tackled Redros, sending him tumbling at his ally as he opened fire. He was hit by two shots square in the back, and died quickly. Arias rammed the now dead Redros into the Nikto, causing him to tumble into the swoop bike that they were once both standing in front of. He quickly scooped up Redros' vibroblade, then grabbed a thermal detonator from his belt, and pushed the activation switch. He tossed it inside the swoop bike, then got out of the way before the swoop bike exploded in a fiery orange inferno.

By now, Bastila was all ready fighting Brejik. The explosion distracted Brejik for a moment, and he paused to see what had happened. So far he had been holding his own against the Jedi Knight, but he left himself open to Arias. That split second was all Arias needed to join in the duel. When he joined in the fight, he was surprised to see how well he and Bastila worked together. When he aimed high, she struck low, then brought the twin blade up high, then he'd strike low. Even if he changed course, she somehow knew just how to react and how to time it. She was a Jedi, so it could have been her reflexes. The strange thing was, he was able to do the same thing. He had never fought like that before.

Now, whenever Arias swung high, Brejik would usually duck, then block Bastila's attack. However, this time he blocked Arias' high attack instead of ducking. Bastila was then able to make a two centimeter deep cut into his right thigh, and she managed to then make a dent in his armor. She then hung back, and Arias advanced. He swung for Brejik's neck, and his blade made contact. It didn't decapitate him, but it did sever the critical cord that ran down his spine from his brain. Brejik died instantly.

Arias took in several deep breaths, then knelt on the ground. He couldn't believe what just happened; not the battle, but the vision. What could this possibly mean? It couldn't just be nothing; once could be nothing, but not twice. He looked up, and noticed Bastila pick up something Brejik had on his belt-- a double bladed lightsaber!? _How did he manage to get that from her-- wait, how did she even become a prisoner in the first place?_

"Well, maybe those bloody Vulkars will think twice before keeping a Jedi prisoner. And as for you," She said, turning to Arias and glaring at him. "If you think you're going to collect me as a prize, then you're--" She paused in mid sentence, then her face lit up with surprise. "I-I don't believe this. You're a soldier with the Republic; you were on the Endar Spire, weren't you? Yes, I'm sure of it. How did _you _end up racing for these swoop gangs?"

He could have given her a long story about how all of this happened, but he figured he might as well give her the short version. "Oh no, don't ask my name," He mumbled sarcastically. He rose to his feet, then gave her a polite bow. He was speaking to a Jedi, after all. "I'm Arias Jantos. This was the only way I could rescue you."

"Save me? Well, as far as rescues go this is a pretty poor example," She said sarcastically. She frowned at him, and put her free hand on her hip. "I managed to free myself, thank you very much. If it weren't for me, those Vulkars would have left you for dead. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that I saved you."

He was a bit shocked by her reply. For a Jedi, she seemed rather-- well, stuck up. Instinct told him to talk back, but his military protocol said otherwise. He chose to take a middle road. "With all due respect, I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of handling myself."

"Yes, I suppose," She said, looking him over for a moment. "If you weren't capable, you never would have made it this far. Perhaps your presence helped me break free from the disruptor." _Uh...I don't know much about the Force, but even I know enough to know that doesn't make sense. _"I suppose I shouldn't be so hard on you," She said apologetically. "You did try to save me, after all; it was a noble effort, even if it didn't go exactly as you had hoped. But I do appreciate the thought.

"Please, forgive me," She said with a bow. "Despite my Jedi training, I do tend to act a bit...rashly sometimes."

"Don't worry about it," He said with a casual shrug. "You've been a prisoner for a while now, so I'd imagine you wouldn't be in the most pleasant mood."

"Right," She said with a curt nod and a slight chuckle. Her face softened for a moment, then it turned serious again. "Now, down to business. If were going to get off Taris, I need to know what resources we can draw upon, and we'll need all the help we can get. First, are we the only surviving members of the Endar Spire?"

"No, we're not the only ones," He replied. "Carth Onasi survived the crash, as well."

"Carth Onasi is alive?" She asked. Her face seemed to light up with redeemed hope. "Finally, some good news. He's a war veteran and has proven himself a thousand times over. We'll need his help if we are to survive. Please, take me to him. Between the three of us I'm sure we'll be able to find a way off this planet."


	8. Chapter 8

"Who's this?" Mission asked when Arias walked in with Bastila.

Mission Vao was only fourteen years old, and was pretty much lived on the streets. Since Arias helped her find her wookiee friend Zalbaar, she and the wookiee joined their group. Mainly because Zalbaar pledged a life debt to Arias for saving him from the gamorean slavers.

Mission was average height for her age; she was roughly 5'6". She was a blue skinned twi'lek with brown eyes, and an intricate black headband that decorated her lekku. She wore a black t-shirt and a gray padded vest. She also wore gray shorts that went about midway down her thigh, as well as brown boots that stopped exactly where her shorts did. As for Zalbaar...well, he looked like what any other wookiee did. Covered in fur, black eyes, no clothing. And, like every other wookiee, he was pretty secretive. Whenever Arias tried to start up conversation with him, Zalbaar told him that he would honor their life debt, but he was not obliged to reveal anything about his past. Arias just gave up after his second attempt. If Zalbaar ever wanted to talk, he knew where to find him.

"This is Bastila Shan, a Jedi Knight," He emphasized, motioning towards the lightsaber hanging on her belt. It was twice the size of a regular hilt, in order to house the twin crystals that generated the dual blades.

"Oh, cool!" Mission replied. Arias wanted to face palm himself, just because he was completely dumbfounded by her response. "Nice to meet you, Bastila," She said, extending her hand for the Jedi to shake. "I'm Mission Vao, and this is my friend, Zalbaar."

Bastila smiled and shook Mission's hand politely, and also nodded at Zalbaar. The wookiee just nodded back; he was either shy, or didn't know if Bastila understood the wookiee language. "It's nice to meet you both," She said kindly. She quickly withdrew her hand, then said, "Now, where's Carth? I need to speak to him as soon as possible."

Just then, the refresher door opened, and Carth stepped out. "Did I hear my name?" He asked. He stopped dead in his tracks, and a smile of disbelief suddenly appeared on his face. "Bastila, you're alive! Finally things are looking up!" He said, laughing a little bit out of sheer relief. "This is- this is great! Now we just need to figure a way off this planet."

"What do you mean, Carth?" Bastila said, frowning at him. Arias suppressed a sigh, seeing where this was going. He jerked his head at Mission and Zalbaar, pretty much telling them to go talk somewhere else. Mission just nodded, and grabbed Zalbaar's hand and dragged him off. As he was being dragged off, he said something along the lines of, 'Aw, but I wanted to see the fight!' Arias chuckled a little bit, then turned his attention back to Bastila and Carth. "You mean you don't have a plan to get off Taris yet? What have you two been doing all this time?" She demanded.

"We were looking for you, remember?" Arias interjected.

"I see," Bastila said, merely glancing at Arias. "Well, now that I'm back in charge, perhaps we can start doing things properly. Hopefully things will go more smoothly than when you "rescued me" from Brejik." She said. And here Arias thought that incident had all ready been worked out. _She has quite an attitude for a Jedi..._

Carth frowned, his mouth hanging open as if he had just been slapped across the face. He looked at Arias, then he focused back on Bastila. He closed his mouth, and stepped forward to join the two of them. "Okay, first of all Bastila, I don't remember making you leader of our group." He said, his voice slowly rising from it's usual soft tone. "Second, a commanding officer doesn't start berating her troops just because things aren't going as planned. If anything, you should ask for our opinions and then make a decision on our next move."

"That hardly strikes me as a proper way of addressing your commanding officer, Carth," She replied smoothly, with just a hint of irritation underlining her tone. "The Jedi Council put me in charge of this mission, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm still in command. My Battle Meditation has won the Republic many battles, and I'm sure it will help us here as well."

Carth just frowned at her in shock; Arias and Carth were probably thinking the same thing right now: How the Hell does your Battle Meditation make you a good leader? Arias was willing to bet any amount of credits that Carth was thinking the same thing.

"Your talents may win us a few battles," Carth retorted; he was clearly starting to get fed up with Bastila all ready. Arias was starting to feel the same way. _Is she all ways like this? _"But that has nothing to do with your ability to lead. A good leader sets an example for her followers; a good leader doesn't insult her troops just because they aren't fully prepared in an unpredictable situation like this!"

_Crap, this is gonna get out of hand pretty quickly._

Before Bastila could give Carth a venomous tongue lashing, Arias spoke up. "All right, first of all Carth, Bastila does have a point: You can't talk to your superiors like that, even if they are wrong." Carth remained silent, and just nodded in agreement. Before Bastila could open her mouth again, Arias continued. "Secondly Bastila, Carth is also right: You should be setting an example for all of us by staying calm and asking our opinions. Arguing isn't going to get us off this planet, so make peace with each other now."

Carth and Bastila stared at Arias; Carth wasn't expecting the outburst, and clearly, neither was Bastila. He laughed and shrugged. "What? I'm just speaking the truth."

Bastila chuckled a little bit, then turned to Carth. "He's right. Please, forgive me; these past few days haven't been easy for me, so I'm not in the best of moods. Of course, I am happy to accept any advice the two of you may have."

"Apology accepted, and I'm sorry too," Carth said quickly. It's not that he didn't mean it, it's just the way he spoke. "Well, first of all, we can't get hung up on who's in charge. We're a team, so we have to work together if we have any hope of making it off this rock alive."

"Well said, Carth," Bastila nodded. "I think we should start by asking around the cantinas; surely there will be someone with a ship who would be willing to sneak us past the Sith blockade; and the sooner the better. I've all ready been a prisoner of the Vulkars, and I have no intentions of being captured by the Sith."

"Don't worry," Arias assured. "We'll be sure that doesn't happen. Now, let's get going. I'm getting pretty tired of Taris."

Bastila just nodded in agreement, then her gaze seemed to drift off into space. Arias disregarded it, then went to check his equipment in case anything was missing. When he was nearly finished, Bastila grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the other side of the room. Before Arias could ask what was going on, Bastila interrupted.

"Is something wrong?" She asked, her features troubled. "You seemed a bit distracted on the way back from the race."

_Well, if I want to have any clue about these...dreams, who better to ask than a Jedi?_

He sighed, then finally spoke up. "Something weird happened to me when we first met. Like a vision, or something."

"A vision?" She asked, frowning in curiosity. "A vision of what?"

"Of you, fighting a Dark Jedi," He said with a shrug. "Revan, I guess."

"This is...this is strange," Bastila said. It seemed like she was trying to avoid looking him straight in the eyes. Rather, she tried to make it appear that she was searching for some explanation. "Such things are often a sign of Force sensitivity."

"Are you saying I can control the Force?" He asked hesitantly. This came as a shock to him; never in a million years did he think he'd be able to control the Force.

"The Force is complicated," She replied quickly. "During the aftermath of the battle, the Force might have allowed you a glimpse into one of my more...intense memories."

"But...it happened before the battle, not too long after I saw you in the cage."

"Really?" She said, genuinely surprised. In comparison to her current tone, everything she said previously sounded like an act. "Then...perhaps you are Force Sensitive. Perhaps if you...well, if you were younger, the Council would consider you for training. But, given our current situation...

"Please, forgive me. I've overstepped my boundaries. Come, let's get back to the task at hand. Perhaps we can speak of this later."

------------------

"This is...this is strange. Such things are often a sign of Force Sensitivity."

_"Yes, Bastila," Revan said aloud as her voice resounded in his subconscious. "This is strange, for many reasons. But what I'm talking about is the fact that I can hear you, and sense you, when I can't sense anyone else outside of this prison."_

_Revan knew Bastila wasn't the only one Arias was with. He knew from little snippets of information that there was one Republic soldier with him, and two street urchins. If he tried hard enough, he could breach into Arias' mind and gain whatever information he needed. In fact, he was going to, until he sensed Bastila's presence turn from a whisper into a scream. Now he could sense Bastila's presence, and hear her. If he concentrated hard enough, he could block out her voice, but he couldn't block out her voice forever. Instead, he simply chose to ignore it._

_"Perhaps I released the memory too soon. If I pull something like that before it's the appropriate time and place, she might become suspicious, and the Council would only place more powerful barriers in my way, and then the memories might never resurface," He paused once more, and thought about the situation and what Bastila's obvious presence might mean._

_Revan had locked himself up in the training room soon after he sensed Bastila's presence. He placed a Force stasis barrier on both the Council chamber doors, and the door that led from the Enclave into the training room. Those lesser presences were probably Jedi, and they would have surely felt the death of..."Master Zhar." He soon figured out that in his subconscious, days moved faster. Within a few hours, morning was over and the middle of the day began; and within a few hours mid day ended, and evening began. The day cycles were probably irrelevant to that of the external world, so it was useless trying to keep track of the days that had gone by. Instead, Revan would have to try to pace himself, otherwise he'd exhaust himself._

_"Maybe being trapped within my own subconscious is making me go crazy. Wait, if I were crazy, would I be aware of it? I doubt it..." Revan said to himself. "Wait wait wait, I must be a little insane to be talking to myself." He paused again, and chuckled a little bit. "These would technically be thoughts, though. After all, I am within my own mind, so therefore, when I talk to myself, I'm technically thinking. And if I could piece that together..."_

_Revan trailed off, and frowned to himself._

_"Maybe I am going crazy...did the Council see this coming? I doubt it. If I am going mad, then should I just stop talking to myself? No, no, no, I'd be bored then. Plus, if I'm going to be pacing myself, I need something to keep me busy." He stopped, a thought occurring to him. "Maybe if I could just meditate? No, no, no, meditation increases one's capacity to channel the Force. If I meditate too much, I might speed up Arias' connection to the Force, and that would be very suspicious."_

_He stopped, and stared off into space. Something had just dawned on him; something that never even occurred to him as a possibility before. He leapt up from his cross legged sitting position on the floor, suddenly realizing what had been staring him in the face all this time._

_"It's a Force Bond!" He exclaimed. "Bastila saved me from death, and now our fates are intertwined! Dammit...that explains it!"_

_He began quickly pacing back and forth, revelation after revelation coming to him._

_"The only reason I can sense her and hear her, and her alone, is because our minds are linked to one another's. But wait...can she hear me? No, I don't think so. Perhaps her subconscious hears me...yes, that would make sense." He stopped pacing back and forth, then fell silent for a few moments before continuing. "Perhaps the next time I make one of the memories resurface, I can attempt to feed it to her mind as well. Wait...wouldn't that happen automatically? Probably, but only if they are close enough to each other for it to happen. Eh, I'll test that out later._

_"What I'm truly concerned about is how I'm going to retrieve the memories without causing too much Force activity, at least for now."_

_That's the main thing that was bothering him since he first sensed Bastila, and now it could become a problem. If he could sense her, then chances are she could peer into Arias' mind and get a glimpse of what was going on. Revan could do the same to her, but if he were to try to probe her mind, then chances are she'd sense it and do something...and whatever she did could possibly ruin his plans. The Jedi had all ready set him back once, and he wasn't about to let that happen again. Surely there was something he could draw on...something he knew. His mind was superior to these chains, but subtlety was the key. _Wait...my mind! That's the answer!

_"If the Jedi can create metaphysical obstacles in my mind," Revan said, holding out his hand. "Then perhaps I can manifest minions for myself, as well."_

_Revan dived into his own mind, looking for someone or something that could suit his needs. He shifted through memories of the Mandalorian Wars, and the battles he had seen in his war against the Jedi. Then he began to look through the ranks of Dark Jedi in, what __**used **__to be, his Sith Empire._

_"What is your bidding, my master?"_

_Revan smiled to himself, pleased at his success. And it didn't require any use of the Force, either. He had managed to summon ten Sith Lords from memory. Each of them wore black tunics and black robes, with hoods drawn to cover their faces. Along with the ten Sith Lords, he had summoned a squad of Mandalorian soldiers to provide cover fire._

_"Our next challenge awaits beyond these doors. We search and destroy, not leaving a single living thing standing," Then, a thought occurred to him. The Jedi might have set traps in case he did something like this. No, they wouldn't have seen this coming. And even if they did, he could wipe out his creations just as easily as he had summoned them. "Destroy the Jedi."_

_"Yes, my lord!" The Mandalorians and Sith said in unison._

Ah, music to my ears.


	9. Chapter 9

_"They're all dead..."_

_Revan nudged another dead Padawan's body with his foot, frowning at the corpse from behind his mask._

_"The Padawans, Knights, and even the younglings. They're all dead. So..."_

_Revan stepped over to the next corpse, and kneeled next to it. He stole a pouch off of the dead Jedi's belt, and searched through it momentarily, as if looking for something of value._

_"Why can't I get out of the enclave?"_

_He ordered his conjured Sith Lords and Mandalorians to slaughter everyone inside the enclave. They did their job well. Not a single living thing-- if they could be called that-- was left standing. Even "innocent civilians" that were found in the enclave were killed. Revan even saw to it personally that the younglings were taken care of; it wasn't a particularly satisfying hunt, but he thought it necessary. He had originally believed that if he had everyone killed, the rest of his journey would be easy; that he'd be able to leave the enclave and finish further trials ahead of time so he could reveal them when he felt it was appropriate. However, killing everyone obviously wasn't the answer; it was probably best in the long run, though. If he didn't have everyone killed, everything would have become more difficult._

_"Perhaps that is the difference between Malak and I...in this sense, anyways," Revan said as he made his way to the Jedi dormitories, being careful not to trip over any of the bodies. "I see the long term benefits of having my enemies eliminated, whereas Malak just sees a chance to shed more blood. In the end, he is nothing more than a fool..."_

_As Revan walked towards one of the dormitories, he stopped and looked inside an open room. It was full of charred skeletons, each of them surrounded by ashes that was once skin. These were the younglings Revan had slain. However, something was odd about them. It was odd because he had never seen them before in his life. It was possible that the Council had placed them there as part of Revan's prison, but for some reason, Revan didn't find that likely._

_He merely shook his head, and proceeded into one of the dormitories. He walked over to the bed, and threw off the corpse that was lying on it. He sat down on the bed, and frowned a little bit as he recalled his fight with Kreia._

_"I did not recall being aware of her ability to use the Force to control more than one lightsaber, nor did I know that she had a double bladed red lightsaber. In fact, I had bluffed knowledge of her apparent conversion the entire time. If she really did turn, then how would I have known in the first place?_

_"And Zhar...I didn't know the full extent of his prowess in combat. Of course, the Jedi could have programmed that in as well. However, that still does not explain Kreia..." He said, trailing off as he tried to find a solution to this problem. "And the younglings...I did not recognize any of them, and as for the other Jedi...I recognized most of them, though they were some of the Jedi who did not follow me to war. I didn't know how they would fight either._

_"To have programmed this much information into my subconscious would have taken far too long, even for the Jedi Council," Revan said in frustration. "What are the chances the answer is staring me right in the face? Ugh...not even the Force would be able to give me enough insight to-"_

_He stopped and stood up as a bell went off inside his head. "The Force! That must be it! The Force flows through all living things, and binds us together. That means, by however small or large the margin may be, all living things in the universe are connected mentally, physically, and spiritually. In other words, the only way my subconscious would have information on the way others fight and behave is because we are all linked, so therefore I subconsciously am aware of...well, everything. That goes for anyone else in the universe as well..." Revan said, pausing to take a breath. "This explains so much more to me than anything else I have learned in the past. The reason Force Users can attack or defend others with the Force is because we are all connected," He paused again as a thought popped into his mind. "So, even though it is not possible, if a being was outside of the Force, not touched by it at all, they could neither be harmed by Force Powers or benefit from them....or use the Force for that matter."_

_Revan sighed and took a deep breath, then sat down on the bed. "Machines are not touched by the Force, so that's why only certain powers can affect them...I wonder if anyone else has ever thought of this?"_

Probably.

_Now it felt odd to think to himself. Since he was within his own mind, he felt no reason to be self conscious about talking aloud when no one else was around. Given this fact, he simply talked aloud to himself, unless he was not alone. Now, whenever he thought to himself, it felt almost alien to him._

_He sighed and got off the bed, and walked out of the dormitory. He made his way to the Council Chambers to gather his conjured Sith Lords and Mandalorians, but when he arrived, he found them all dead. He didn't gasp in shock or anything of the sort, he just frowned. He walked over to the corpse with the freshest mark; it was a Sith Lord, obviously. He had two large gashes cut into his chest; they were caused by a lightsaber, judging from the lack of blood._

_"What happened here?"_

_"My--my lord, we have...we have failed you..." The Sith said weakly, struggling to get the words out._

_"I can see that," Revan said with a nod, noting the rest of the bodies. He noticed that one Sith Lord was missing from the slaughter. "Not all of you, however. One of yours is missing. Tell me what happened. Now."_

_He took in a deep breath, then finally spoke. "A...a little gray Jedi Master...he, he ambushed us. We never even saw him coming."_

_"Little and gray?" Revan asked. He frowned, filtering through the possibilities. "Did he have pointed ears, and look to be well over a hundred years old?"_

_"Yes," He said weakly. "He jumped around like a maniac...I never would have expected something like that..."_

_"Master Vandar..." Revan said to himself. Vandar Tokare was a small Jedi master, his race a mystery to everyone; he had gray leathery skin, several wrinkles indicating that he was extremely old, pointed ears, and a rather gruff voice that almost sounded like he was gargling when he spoke. He nodded, then stood up and began walking away from the Sith Lord._

_"Wait!" He cried weakly._

_Revan looked over his shoulder, and simply replied, "What?"_

_"S-Save me, please...I've been loyal, haven't I? Please....save me from death."_

_Revan merely chuckled to himself, then said, "First of all, I don't know how to cheat death. I could heal you, but you are too close to death's grip to be saved. And second of all, your loyalty means nothing to me. You are but a tool to help me achieve my goals, and you are of no use to me anymore."_

_With mere thought alone, he snapped the Sith's neck in half._

--------------

_Figuring out where the two of them had run off to was relatively easy: all Revan had to do was leave through the door to the courtyard that Vandar was gracious enough to leave open, and then follow the scorch marks left behind by lightsabers and stray lightning bolts._

No wonder he survived. _Revan thought to himself. _He was probably the most powerful of the group I created.

_It seemed like Vandar chose to lead the last Sith Lord on a chase, instead of taking him out right then and there. The purpose behind this was easily read: Vandar was trying to lead Revan into a trap. Even though Revan clearly recalled what happened the last time he sprung a Jedi trap, he still intended to take the bait. There was no chance of friendly fire this time, so he had little to worry about this time around._

_Dantooine was a fertile planet; it was mostly grasslands and forests, with foothills and plateaus dotting the landscape. It was a calm and tranquil planet, even in Revan's mind. He could see why the Jedi would choose this planet as a safe haven and training facility. If Malak had the gaul, he would gladly destroy this planet without a second thought. Revan was actually hoping that wouldn't happen any time soon. He didn't care of the Star Map was lost; bombarding Dantooine would do more harm than good to the Sith cause._

_"I actually care?" Revan asked himself incredulously. "Wow...Arias' light side must be getting to me." He chuckled._

_He followed the trail until he arrived at something all too familiar: The Star Map temple. The Jedi believed this place to be mere burial mounds, but in truth this underground structure housed an ancient Star Map that, when activated, would show what planets the other Star Maps were located on. If they were all activated, they would reveal the location of the Star Forge. These were artifacts of the darkside; therefore, this temple was seething with dark power. Vandar made a mistake luring Revan here._

_Revan walked down the steep slope that led into the underground labyrinth that spread for miles. He did not fully explore the ruins when he first visited them, simply because there was not enough time. Perhaps after he finished Vandar he'd explore a little bit._

_The temple was completely devoid of life and light; the walls were made of dark gray stone. Everything was exactly as he remembered it. He proceeded down a dark hallway; as he walked, he heard saber clashes in the distance. Despite this, he did not pick up the pace; the fate of his conjured Sith Lord meant little to him. He eventually came to a room with three doors: one facing east, the other facing west, and the one he was looking at, facing north. They were each made of black stone, with a large stone padlock in the middle; each of which was opened by the Force._

_He moved towards the northern door; it was clear that Vandar and the Sith Lord were behind that door. He paused for a few moments, waiting for the duel to end. After a short while, there was complete silence, except for the extinguishing of lightsabers. Revan waited for a minute, then he waved his hand in front of the padlock. The indentation was depressed, and after a few seconds the stone slabs slid either up or down into their respective slots. When the door was completely opened, Revan saw the short, gray Jedi Master in the room, standing a few meters away from the corpse._

_"Darth Revan," Vandar said calmly, in his usual gruff, rather gnomish tone._

_"Master Vandar," Revan replied, slowly walking inside the room. It was small; only five meters wide and lengthwise; the ceiling was about medium height; just enough for someone as small as Vandar to perform the amazing acrobatics of Ataru. Then again, just about any room size could be used by him. "You survived."_

_"Surprised?" Vandar asked, a small tone of arrogance underlying his voice._

_"No, not too terribly," Revan shrugged, holding up his hand in front of him just slightly, as if to examine his gloved fingernails. "After all, those Sith weren't nearly powerful enough to handle one such as yourself," Revan said. He looked up from his hand, and glared at Vandar from behind his mask. "But now," He said, slowly lifting his hand above his head, angling it so his fingers looked almost like the legs of a spider. "You shall experience but a taste of the Dark Lord's power."_

_A concentrated storm of lightning rushed from Revan's fingertips at Vandar, catching him completely off guard. The blue-purple lightning struck the impish Jedi square in the chest, sending him flying backwards as small bolts of lightning coursed through his body. Vandar slammed into a wall, then slumped to the ground, completely motionless._

It's over all ready?

_Revan frowned and cautiously approached the Jedi Master, waiting for him to rise._

_"Is that the best the legendary Master Vandar has to offer?" Revan mocked. "Perhaps it was best you decided not to go to war against the Mandalorians. You would have been cut down in a matter of minutes."_

_He heard Vandar grunt, then he slowly began to rise to his feet, glaring at the Dark Lord._

_"Don't waste your breath," Revan declared. "Soon, the Jedi Order will be cut down, along with your precious Republic."_

_"Not if I have anything to say about it!" _

_Before Revan even knew what hit him, he was struck by an invisible wave of Force Power that sent him flying backwards into a wall. He managed to summon a bubble of defense just before he hit the wall, but it hurt nonetheless. He grunted and quickly rose to his feet, staring at the Jedi Master in surprise. _Crap...this might be more difficult than I had thought.

_"Your reign as Dark Lord is at an end," Vandar said defiantly, removing one of his shotos from his belt and igniting the blue blade. "And not short enough it was."_

_"You will not stop me," Revan replied, igniting his blood red lightsaber in response. "I've become more powerful in these past few days than ever before-- exiling me to my own mind has only benefitted me. And this place you have drawn me to-- it courses with dark side power. You are nothing to me now."_

_"Your faith in the dark side is misplaced, my old friend," Vandar replied, flourishing his weapon and aiming the tip of the blade at Revan. "Arias will serve the Light, never the Dark. His will is stronger than yours."_

_"Then there is much you fail to understand."_

_The two cried in unison, and leapt at each other, their blades clashing in midair. They landed opposite of each other, but quickly spun around. Vandar leapt at Revan, unleashing a flurry of airborne attacks. Revan parried each blow, flawlessly moving from one parry to the next. As soon as Vandar landed, Revan swung at him, but Vandar jumped into the air and executed an arial spin attack aimed for Revan's head. He ducked and rolled to the side, anticipating Vandar to go for a strike from behind as well. As soon as Revan was back on his feet, he spun around and swung at Vandar with a one handed strike. The Jedi Master leapt and parried the blow in midair, spinning at Revan with a series of spinning strikes as he released a war cry._

_Revan instantly started backing up, playing the defensive and attacking Vandar with one handed counter attacks when the opportunity presented itself. But Vandar was quick and powerful; he mastered Ataru to the point where his attacks could be used as parries as well. He was basically a tornado of blades. _

_Revan was backed up against a low wall that stopped at roughly his calf. Beyond that was the temple's system of labyrinths. Vandar leapt, striking for Revan's head. The blow landed, but fortunately for Revan, his Mandalorian mask was lightsaber resistant; the blow only made him tumble backwards over the low wall. He landed on his back, and looked up to see Vandar crying out and spinning at Revan. He gasped and quickly rolled out of the way, deactivating his lightsaber so he wouldn't impale himself. He quickly rose to his feet, and ignited his blade._

_He quickly noted a large slab of stone that slanted upwards towards a large opening in the ceiling. It led only to another level of the temple, but Revan needed some kind of escape; Vandar was too powerful to be destroyed in lightsaber combat. He needed to somehow get the upper hand on Vandar. That may be his solution._

_Vandar launched himself at Revan again, but he quickly strafed to the right, and leapt on to the stone slab. Before he could proceed upwards however, Vandar leapt in front of him, flourishing his blade at Revan._

_"What's wrong, Revan?" He mocked. "Is the Dark side not powerful enough to destroy me?"_

_"No," Revan responded, gathering his hatred and turning it into raw power. "I was just getting you where I wanted you."_

_Revan gripped Vandar with the Force, constricting his windpipe. The Jedi Master gasped and dropped his lightsaber, gripping at his stubby throat with his claw like hands. Revan hurled Vandar behind him towards the ground, reinforcing the throw with a wave of dark power. The attack sent Vandar into the ground, causing a crater in the stone floor. Revan smirked, and jumped to the floor. He glanced briefly at the deactivated shoto, then gripped it with the Force and crushed it. Satisfied, he walked over to the crater, and looked down upon Vandar, smirking in delight._

_"Let's see your precious Light save you now," He mocked._

_Once more, Vandar rose to his feet with a groan, glaring at Revan defiantly. Revan's only response was the deactivation of his lightsaber, and hurling several bolts of lightning at Vandar with both hands. Vandar must have been expecting it, because what he did was rather unexpected._

_Vandar held out his hands, and absorbed the lightning with his very palms. Revan snarled and pushed harder, pouring more power into his onslaught. Vandar was put off balance, losing some of his footing. He averted his gain from Revan, looking as if he were struggling to maintain his hold. Revan sneered and let the darkside surge through his body for a moment, making the lightning ever more deadly; somehow, though, Vandar regained his footing, and slowly returned his gaze to Revan. He let out a brief battle cry, and let out a surge of Force Power. Revan shouted in surprise as he was sent flying backwards until he finally crashed into a wall several meters from where he had been standing._

_"Impressive..." Revan grunted as he rose to his feet, drawing his lightsaber once more._

_Vandar leapt-- no, he didn't leap out. He was levitating! As he floated in thin air, large chunks of stone rotated around him. Revan grimaced, and drew his violet lightsaber, taking up a defensive stance._

_"Most impressive," He muttered._

_Without a word, Vandar launched the stones at him one by one. Revan cried out and met the onslaught head on. He sped towards Vandar, slashing at the stones as he charged him. He cut one of them in half with a slanted strike, and followed up with a spinning strike that split the following stone in hand. He ducked, narrowly avoiding the next stone, and following up with a midair cartwheel, slicing two more stones in half in midair. As soon as he landed, he sped towards Vandar, quickly closing the distance. He twirled his violet blade, and swung with his red with a slanted strike, using his violet blade as an off-hand strike in case the first one somehow failed. However, before he could complete his attack, Vandar lashed out at him with a Force Push. Revan expected it, but he was still sent off balance by the attack._

_He quickly regained his footing, but Vandar quickly sped into the next chamber: The chamber containing the Star Map. If it weren't for the fact that Revan destroyed Vandar's weapon, he'd be a bit concerned. Revan ran and leapt over the low wall into the Star Map's chamber, which was more than twice the size of the first chamber they were in. Revan looked around, and only saw the Star Map. _Where the Hell is he?

_Revan spun around when he heard a loud cry from behind him, and the blur of a blue blade. _A second one!? _He snarled under his breath, and lifted his violet blade over his head, and parried the blow, then twirled the blade in an attempt to sever his legs; the attack just barely missed. Just before Vandar landed, Revan swung at him with his red blade. Their weapons clashed, and the two of them held them in place._

_"You've fought well, Revan," Vandar replied, pushing back on Revan's blade. "You'd make a worthy Jedi Weaponmaster. Perhaps Arias could take that position, yes?"_

_"Well, wouldn't that be pleasant!" Revan snarled, pushing back on Vandar's blade. For a small guy, he was rather strong. However, Revan had the advantage of size, and natural strength. Vandar was actually struggling to keep his blade at bay. Revan screamed and spun to the side, swinging his violet blade at Vandar._

_The impish Jedi leapt over the blade, and over Revan. Vandar swung, but Revan ducked out of the way, spinning around to meet his foe. As soon as Vandar landed, Revan was all ready swinging his crimson blade again. Vandar leapt again, high over the crouching Sith Lord. However, he was too high to actually strike Revan, but Revan leaned back on his right fist, which was holding his red saber. He twirled his violet blade above him at Vandar; the bright purple blade seared through both of his legs, separating them from the rest of his small body. The Jedi Master cried in pain, and went tumbling forth on the cold stone floor of the temple, his lightsaber skidding away from him before it hit the wall._

_Revan quickly rose to his feet and deactivated his violet blade, clipping the weapon to his belt. He slowly walked over to Vandar, who was looking up at him defiantly._

_"Go on, Lord Revan, destroy me. There is no death, there is the Force," Vandar replied defiantly, reciting the final line of the Jedi Code._

_"Spare me," Revan said, spinning and inverting his weapon, holding it above his head as if it were a spear. "You're not even real."_

_Revan cried out in rage, and plunged the blade into his enemy's chest._


	10. Chapter 10

"Canderous, I see you've brought someone with you. Most intriguing, if I do say so myself."

Arias' head was spinning with what had happened within the few short days he met Bastila. After they had their little "discussion" at their apartment, they quickly set out for the cantina. Arias and Carth had their doubts about trying there again, seeing as how their first attempt ended in failure. However, this time was radically different. While they were at the bar, they were approached by a Mandalorian mercenary named Canderous; he worked for the Exchange, his immediate superior being Davik Kang, head of the Exchange on Taris. Davik was an infamous crime lord, and next to the Sith, the Exchange was one of the most powerful forces on Taris. They had connections throughout the planet, especially with the Tarisian underground.

Canderous was getting tired of being Davik's enforcer. Apparently, Kang had originally promised to make Canderous extremely wealthy in exchange for his services. However, the pay was not what Canderous expected; eventually he just stuck around to he could crack some heads, but even that was getting boring. In short: He was sick of being Davik's lap dog. Canderous saw Arias in the swoop race, and figured that he was his ticket off the planet.

Canderous made an offer: If they broke into the Sith military base and obtained the Sith departure codes, Canderous would team up with them and take them to Davik's estate. He'd make the recommendation that Arias become part of the Exchange, and while Davik was running the background check, they'd steal Davik's flagship: The _Ebon Hawk_. Arias didn't trust his motives, but Bastila insisted that she didn't sense any deception from him; Carth didn't trust Canderous either, but they didn't have much of a choice. Arias agreed to retrieve the departure codes for Canderous.

However, he warned them ahead of time that the task wouldn't be easy. To achieve their goal, they had to buy a custom utility droid from a Twi'lek mechanic named Janice Nall. She was commissioned by Davik to create T3-M4 for the purpose of breaking into the Sith base and stealing the departure codes. Purchasing the droid cost a fortune, but it did its job well.

Carth, Bastila, and Arias stormed the Sith military base, but only killed what was in their way. They retrieved the departure codes with minimal difficulty, and quickly returned to Canderous, who was waiting at Javyar's Cantina in the Lower City. Canderous joined their group, and he quickly took them to Davik's estate. Bastila stayed behind with Mission and Zalbaar, but Carth came with Arias and Canderous; they decided that bringing a Jedi with them would be too risky; however slim the chance might be, it was possible that Davik would turn Bastila in to the Sith, even if he didn't know who she was. Plus, Arias had a feeling that something bad was going to happen very soon, and thought it best if she were there to help Mission and Zalbaar just in case.

"It's not like you to take on partners, Canderous," Calo Nord, a rather short human bounty hunter said. "You're going soft."

Calo Nord was an infamous human bounty hunter; when Arias asked Mission about him, she used the expression "He's killed more people than the Iridian Plague!" From that, Arias knew to steer clear of him. Calo wore a blue overcoat with orange shoulder pads; underneath that, he wore a black and orange shirt. He wore black pants and black boots, along with a white desert cap and goggles.

"Watch yourself Calo," Canderous retorted. "You may be the newest Kath Hound in the pack, but you're not top dog yet."

Canderous and Calo were quite different. While Calo had a very emotionless face, Canderous seemed to have a face that was perpetually frowning, his jaw locked as if he were angry; he basically had a very square head. He had several battle scars on his light skinned face, and he had just the slightest hint of stubble along his jawline and cheeks. He had cropped, graying hair, and black eyes. He had a soldier's physique, as expected, and an intricate tattoo on his shoulder; it could have been a ceremonial Mandalorian tattoo. He wore a black sleeveless short with a red vest over it; his pants were tan, and he wore metallic silver durasteel boots. He carried a heavy Mandalorian repeater, which clearly dealt a lot of damage.

"Enough," Davik, who appeared to be in his fifties due to his gray thinning hair, said. "I won't have my top two men killing each other, that's not good business. I'm sure Canderous has a good reason as to why he's not going solo anymore."

Davik wore a purple battle suit, which appeared to be very flexible. He had several wrinkles, and he had a small tattoo near his right eye. His demeanor was very friendly, but he clearly wasn't the kind of person you'd want to double cross.

"This is a special case Davik," Canderous explained. "I brought you someone you'd be very interested to meet. You might recognize him from the swoop race earlier."

"Ah," Davik nodded in understanding. "Now I recognize your companion. Your runs were impressive, as was the rather heated battle afterwards. Congratulations, by the way. It's not everyday you see a rookie blow away the competition on their first race."

"It was nothing I couldn't handle, I guess," Arias shrugged.

Davik nodded in agreement, then continued. "You know, Canderous was right. The Exchange is always looking for new members. With Canderous' recommendation, and a thorough background check, of course, you could become part of the Exchange. Many would kill to receive such a great honor!"

_No kidding._ Arias thought.

"Your offer intrigues me, Davik," Arias lied. The last thing he wanted to do was join the Exchange, but he needed to pretend he wanted to.

"I'm glad to hear it," Davik nodded. "But, before you make your final decision, please follow me. I'll give you a tour of my estate, then I'll show you to your quarters where you'll be staying for the next few days.

The first thing they were shown was the _Ebon Hawk_. Now, Arias wasn't one to fawn when he saw an impressive ship. Carth, on the other hand, being a pilot for the Republic, was quite the opposite.

"Wow," Carth exclaimed. "A _Dynamic_-class freighter! I haven't seen one of these since the Mandalorian--"

Arias curtly elbowed Carth in the ribs, and impatiently whispered, _"Hush! If he thinks we're with the Republic, who knows what will happen!"_

"Ah, your friend has a good eye," Davik remarked. "The Ebon Hawk is my pride and joy, fastest ship in the universe!"

The _Ebon Hawk _was a red and white freighter; looking at it automatically made you think of a hawk...only bigger, and faster. With a laser turret on top. But other than that, it looked a lot like a hawk.

"Note the state of the art security system I've installed to protect her. No one can steal my baby without the proper access codes," He said, almost as if it were a warning. "Unfortunately, as fast as she is, even she isn't fast enough to outrun the advanced auto-targeting turbolasers of the Sith fleet. I am, of course, working on acquiring the Sith departure codes so I can come and go as I please, but progress has been slow.

"But enough of that. Come, we should continue our tour."

-----------------

"You summoned me, Lord Malak?" Admiral Karath asked.

Lord Malak was staring at Taris from the ship the _Leviathan_. Ever since Bastila crashed on the planet, Malak had decided to take up residence in Karath's ship, in case news of the young Jedi surfaced. Karath didn't mind, of course. It was an honor to have Malak with him! However, his presence was a bit...unsettling; as was his obsession with Bastila's Battle Meditation. The search for this particular Jedi was actually made main priority by Malak! In other words, Galactic domination came second.

The last Admiral that questioned Malak's decision ended up paying with his life. Saul was determined not to repeat history. However, he was in complete control of the Sith fleet, so he could still conquer planets, even if Malak wished otherwise. Malak was a fierce warrior, but he was no tactician. Not like Saul. _Not like Revan._

"The search for Bastila is taking too long. I cannot risk her escaping Taris," Malak said, making a wiping motion with his hand as he continued. "Destroy the entire planet."

_Not again..._

"Th-the entire planet, Lord Malak?" Saul stuttered. A small part of him always regretted bombing Telos, and he had hoped he would never have to do such a thing again. He was wrong. "But, there are millions of people on Taris. We'd be slaughtering countless innocent civilians. Not to mention our own men still on the surface."

_It's useless to reason with him, I just know it..._

Malak spun around, glaring at Saul with beady black eyes. His skin was pale, and he had two arrow-like tattoos on his bald skull. He wore the same jaw guard back when Revan was still alive, and he still wore a skin tight red battle suit with a black cape draped over his right shoulder. His appearance was not completely corrupted, which was odd. He apparently hadn't completely fallen to the darkside.

"Your predecessor once made the mistake of questioning my orders, Admiral," Malak snapped. "Surely you are not so foolish as to make the same mistake?"

Saul took a step back, lifting his hands slightly in a pleading motion. "Of course not, my lord Malak. I will do as you command," He assured. "But it will take several hours to position our fleet."

Malak's eyes glinted with triumph, then he waved his hand in a dismissive motion. "Then I suggest you begin immediately. You are dismissed, Admiral."

"As you wish, Lord Malak."

Malak turned around and continued observing the planet, then Saul bowed and left to begin making preparations. _I'll see you in Hell, Lord Malak._

_-----------------------_

"These will serve as your quarters for the duration of your stay," Davik said, leading them into one of the guest rooms. "You will stay here while I complete your background check. Once your background check is complete, I will offer you a position in the Exchange.

"I must warn you," Davik added. "You should accept the offer when it comes, because I won't take no for an answer."

"I look forward to working with you, Davik," Arias assured.

"Excellent. Please, feel free to visit the slave quarters during your stay. The entire guest wing is yours to explore," Davik said. "However, if you leave the guest wing at all during your stay, or if you bother my other guests, my security forces will have to deal with you most harshly."

"I understand," Arias nodded.

"Good. We'll be back for you in a couple of days. Come, Calo."

Davik left the guest room, and Calo Nord followed behind him after nodding at the three of them. After they heard the door to the guest wing close, Canderous was the first to speak.

"Okay, we're inside. Now, there's a prisoner in the West wing; he used to be the pilot of Davik's ship. If we free him, he should give us the access codes to the Ebon Hawk."

"Why was he put in prison?" Carth asked, frowning a little bit.

"How the Hell should I know?" Canderous said. "Point is he can help us get off this rock. Now, there's no sense waiting around here, so let's go."

"Right," Arias nodded. "Just show us where to go, Canderous."


End file.
